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Fron-tis-piece. 



HISTORY 



OF 



VIRGINIA 



IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE 



<R 



BY 



l :*> 



EMILY 'STEINESTE* ' McNAMARA 

Author of " Prince Coastwind's Victory; " Translator of " Under the Stork's Nesi " 
"Chain of Fate," Schilling's "The Vicar's Diary," etc. 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 





CHICAGO. NEW YORK. AND SAN FRANCISCO 

BELFORD, CLARKE & CO. 



M/6 






Copyright. 1888, by 
BELFORD, CLARKE & Ca 



PREFACE. 



History is bound to be cold with stern, facts. 
The one who writes it may not give way to flights 
of thought that will catch the mind of youth. 

If this book should prove to be less bare of 
bright, but true, tales than plain truth is wont to 
be, thanks are due to those who gave me their 
aid when I sought for dates and facts for the 
work. 

Chief of these is the Virginia-born journalist 
John W. Overall, and Mr. R. A. Brock, of Rich- 
mond. 

E. R. S. MCN. 
Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, October. 1888. 



CONTENTS. 



PART FIRST. 



The Colonists, 



PART SECOND. 



The Revolutionists, 



77 



The Americans, 



War of the States, 



PART THIRD. 



PART FOURTH. 



141 



i/3 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Fron-tis-piece, . . Fac-ing Ti-tlc Page. 

Sir Ra-leigh's Ship 10 

First Talk with the Red Man, 

The In-dian, .... 

Pipes, ..... 

Smith's Ships, .... 

Pow-ha-tan's Camp, . 

Smith Trades with the Red Chief, 

New-port's Ship. 

Cap-tain Smith, in Cos-tume of the Times, 

En-trance to Nat-ur-al Tun-nel, 

Nat-ur-al Tun-nel, in Vir-gin-ia, 

Po-ca-hon-tas, in the Fash ion-a-ble Eng- 
lish Cos-tume of the Pe-ri-od. (Cop-ied 
from an O-rig-i-nal Draw-ing.) . . 35 



1 1 

13 
16 

18 
20 

23 
26 
28 
29 
30 



Moun-tain-eer's Home, in West-ern Vir- 
gin-ia 37 

School-house 39 

At Peace with the Red Man, . . .42 
O-pec-han-ca-nough's Last Bad Deed, . 47 

Na-than-iel Ba-con, 52 

Old Tow-er at James-town, . . -59 
Page from an Old School-book, . . 62 
William and Ma-ry Col-lege, Wil Hams- 
burg, Vir-gin-ia, . . . . -63 
Shan-non-dale Springs, with a View of 

the Blue Ridge, . . . . 64 

Church near Smith-field, Said to have 

been Built in 1635, . . . .67 

Cy-clo-pe-an Tow-ers, Au-gus-ta Coun-ty, 68 



List of lLus.)\ 



View on the Shen-an-do-ah, . . . 70 
A Home in Eastern Vir-gin-ia Be-fore 

the War, 73 

The Strode Rogue 74 

Mr. Jack-son Brings An -drew Home, . 75 
An-drew Jack-son, . . . . . 76 

Weav-ing, ....... 79 

Nat-ur-al Bridge, Two Hun-dred and Fif- 
teen Feet High, 80 

A Bor-der Fort, 82 

Wash-ing-ton's Of-fice and Lodg-ings at 
" Sol-dier's Rest," in Clarke Coun-ty, 
Vir-gin-ia, ...... 83 

Bat-tie of Great Meadows, . . .84 
Ru-ins of Trin-i-ty Church. Date of 
E-rec-tion not Known, . . . .87 

The War Dance, 88 

" There's a Bite !" . . . . -92 

Han-o-ver Court House, in which Pat- 
rick Hen-ry Made His First Great 
Speech, ....... 94 

Pat-rick Hen-ry, . . . . -95 

An Old-time Court House, . . . 100 
Red Hill, the Home of Pat-rick Hen-ry, 

Char-lotte Coun-ty, Vir-gin-ia, . . 101 
The King's Men Row off with the Stores. 103 
The Call to Arms! ..... 104 

The Min-ute Men Fire on the.Brit-ish, . 106 
The Wash-ing-ton Elm, .... 108 

Mar-shall's Pil-lar, on New Riv-er, Fa- 
yette Coun-ty, Vir-gin-ia, . . .112 
Au-to graph of Jef-fer-son, . . . 115 
Wey-er's Cave, Au-gus-ta Coun-ty, . .118 
Mon-ti cel-lo, the Home of Thom-as Jef- 
fer-son, . . . . . . .123 

Cap ture of An-dre 125 

Old Bland-ford Church, . . . .127 

Build-ing Works 128 

Gen-er-al An-tho-ny Wayne, . . .130 
Lord Corn-vval-lis, . . . .132 

Sur-ren-der of Corn-wal-lis's Men, . . 133 
The Moore House, York-town, where 
Corn-wal-lis Signed Ar-ti-cles of Sur- 
ren-der to the A-mer-i-can Ar-my. . 136 

Sir Hen-ry Clin-ton, 137 

The Young Min-ute Man, . . . 138 
Fac-sim-i-le of the Writ-ing of Wash- 
ing-ton 143 



PAGE 

George Wash-ing-ton, . . . .145 
Mount Ver-non in 1840, .... 148 

John Ad-ams 151 

Old Ru-in at Ware Creek. Hid-ing-place 
of the Pi-rate Black-beard and His 
Band in 1787, . . . . . -152 

Thom-as Jef-fer-son, . . . . 153 

U-ni-ver-si-tyof Vir-gin-ia, at Char-lotte- 
ville, . . . . . . .154 

James Mad-i-son, . . . . . 155 

Mont-pe-lier, the Home of Pres-i-dent 

Mad-i-son, 156 

Oak Hill, the Home of Pres-i-dent Mon- 
roe, 156 

James Mon-roe, . . . . . 1 57 

Birth-place of Pres-i-dent Har-ri-son, on 
the James Riv-er, 1773, . . . .158 

John Ty-ler, . . . . . . 159 

Zach-a-ry Tay-lor, ..... 160 

Tay-lor at Bue-na Vis-ta, .... 161 

Jack-son at New Or-le-ans, . . .162 
Hard Times with the Red Men, . . 163 
Camp Meet ing Grounds in the For-ests, 168 
Birth-place of Hen-ry Clay, Han-o-ver 
Coun-ty, Vir-gin-ia, . . . .170 

Ro-a-noke, the Home of John Ran-dolph, 171 
Au-to graph of John Ran-dolph, . . 172 
A-py-lum for the In sane at Staun-ton, 
Vir-gin-ia, ...... 175 

Seal of Vir-gin-ia, . . . . .176 

Wash-ing-ton College, Lex-ing-ton, Vir- 
gin-ia, ....... 177 

Con-fed-er-ate Chiefs— Rob-ert E. Lee, 
Thom-as }on-a-than Jack-son (" Stone- 
wall Jack-son"), J. E. B. Stu-art, James 
Long-street, Jo-seph John-ston, . . 182 
Jack-son at Bull Run. .... 184 

Gen-er-al Rob-eit E. Lee, . . . 185 

Off for the War, ..... 190 

The Mon-i-tor and the Mer-ri-mac. . 193 

Con-fed-er-ate Chiefs — Jef-fer-son Da-vis, 
Al-ex-an-der H. Ste-phens, Rob-ert 
Toombs, Ju-dah P. Ben-ja-min, J. H. 
Rea-gan, . . . . . .198 

Fitz-hugh Lee, ...... 200 

Home for Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, Staun- 
ton, Yir-gin-ia, ..... 201 



VIRGINIA. 



PART I. 

The Colonists. 



CHAPTER L 

When my wee boy or girl friends read this tale, 
they must use all four eyes. You know that you 
have two pairs of eyes, do you not ? One pair will 
gaze at the page while you read, and one pair, — 
which are set in the face of your mind, — can see 
sights that took place 304 years since. 

I think I can see your thoughts dwell on the 
dad face of Sir Wal-ter Ra-leigh when he felt the 
first soft south wind borne to him from the shores 
of what was to be the Land of Vir-gin-ia. 

To sail for weeks and months on the cold sea, 
with the same bleak scenes day by day, must have 
been hard at best ; but to Sir Ra-leigh and his men 
it must have been quite a sad time, for they were in 
search of a shore to which they had no guide. 



IO 



Virginia. 

Men from the old land had found New Eng- 
land, with its chill winds and harsh clime ; but Sir 
Ra-leigh was the first to dare the seas not known, to 
find the South Land. 




SIR RA-LEIGH S SHIP. 



With bloom and warmth I oreet thee ! friend 
white man first to seek me, must have been the 
words of the soil, had earth the gift of tongue. " For 
we were still far out at sea," said Sir Ra-leigh, "when 




FIRST TALK WITH THE RED .MAN. 



1 2 Virginia. 

the wind bore to us "so sweet and strong a scent," 
that he knew he was near the spot he sought. 

When he went back to Ene-land to tell Oueen 
Bess of the land he had found for her, she said, 
" Pure, sweet, and warm ! Our claim must have a 
name to suit all that you say it is. We will call it 
the Vir-gin land, the sweet land of Vir-gin-ia." 

When men heard of this grand place, rich in soil, 
that hid gold and ore, on which grew wild fruits fit 
to pluck ; on which ran free the best of game, — why, 
all Eng-land went near mad with joy. 

The Red man, what of him ? Sir Ra-leigh said 
he met him in the best of moods. It is odd how 
the Red man got the name of In-dian. It came in 
this way. 

When Co-lum-bus first set foot on the new world 
he thought he was in In-dia, and, of course, the 
" na-tives" must then be In-dians. The name has 
clung to them. It should not be so. The land was 
theirs, and they should be known by the name of 
their land ; do you not think so ? 

Well, Sir Ra-leigh soon had a lot of men, who, 
with bold hearts set sail for Vir-gin-ia. Sev-en ships 
were sent out with Ralph Lane as chief. 

To some of these men are due thanks, in all 
time, for what we know of those first years in the 
South Land. 




THE IN-DIAN. 



14 Virginia. 

Most of these men came here with but one aim 
and end in view — to pick up chunks of gold, get as 
rich as kings, and go back home and have a fine time. 

The Red men had no more chance, than the 
beasts of the woods, to keep out the white man. 
They saw he was sly, hard of heart. But soon the 
Red men were up to their tricks, and their hearts 
were in a flame of rage. We will play tricks too, 
said they ; then let us see, who is the fool ! 

They saw the white man's greed for gold, and 
made it a means to get square for mean things done 
to them. 

When the whites would fawn and give them 
gifts, so that they would tell them where gold was to 
be found, — for they were sure the Red men must 
know where it lay, in heaps, — the Red men at last said 
they would tell them, and sent them miles out in the 
woods, to hunt for what was not there, and laugh at 
their rage, when the foot-sore men came back. 

" We told you at the first, that gold must be dug 
for, but you think we do not tell you true. You do 
us harm, to make us tell. You try to buy us, but 
you still think we have hills of gold when we tell you, 
not so. Now we laugh at you, and play you tricks, 
as you do to us." 

So bad blood was made 'twixt them. But the 
search for gold went on, all the same. 



The Colonists. 15 

On one of these trips the men came to a large, 
strange tract of wa-ter. The Red men said it was 
"Ches-a-peake." The word means " great wa-ters," 
so it got the name of Ches-a-peake Bay. 

As time went on, and no gold was to be found, 
like clods of earth on the way-side, and food got low, 
for the white men did not till or sow, they got sick 
of their life, and hearts were sore for the old home. 

Things were in a sad plight, when Sir Fran-cis 
Drake came from Eng-land with ship-loads of new 
stores. But the men would not stay. So Ro-a- 
noke Is-land, the name by which the spot was known, 
was once more left free to the Red men. It was by 
these men that the weed, we call to-bac-co, was 
brought to Eng-land. 

The Red men taught them the use of it. They 
did not call the plant to-bac-co, but the reed or pipe- 
like stem, in which they put the leaf to smoke, is the 
Red man's "To-ba-co." When the Span-ish first saw 
it in use, they gave the name of the tube or reed to 
the plant, and that is how it came to be known as 
To-bac-co. In the meantime Sir Rich-ard Gran-vil-le 
set out from Eng-land with three ships and stores to 
join the Vir-gin-ians. But not one sign of the small 
band of white men could be found. 

He left fif-teen men to hold the claim in the 
name of the Queen, and went back to Eng-land. 



i6 



Virginia. 



The fate of these fif-teen men is not known to this 

day. 

Were they slain by the Red 
men ? did they starve ? Who 
can tell ? 

When the next ships, (sent 
by Sir Ra-leigh,) came to their 
aid, not a trace of them was left, 
but bare bones lay in the sand, 
and their huts were haunts for 
wild beasts. 

The new col-o-nists, with 
John White as their gov-er-nor, 
had brought their wives with 
them. They came to make 
homes, to stay and build up the 
land. It seems they did not 
make the Red man their friend, 
or the Red man had grown wise 
and did not want the white man 
to come and live on his land. 

There was war from the 
first, and the red foe was wild 
for blood, and shed it, when and 
where the white man could not 
strike back. Fear of this foe 
of life. They must have help. 




IPES. 



was now the bane 



The Colonists. iy 

They had but one ship left. The Gov-er-nor was 
sent to Eng-land in it. A child, the first white 
babe on Vir-gin-ia soil, was born at this time. 
They gave it the name of Vir-gin-ia Dare. 

It was the Gov-er-nor s child, and they would not 
let him take wife or child with him, but kept them 
as a pledge that he would come back with help right 
soon, for their sakes, at least. 

He saw them no more. Some marks cut in the 
bark of a tree told that they had fled to Cro-a-ton. 
But the Gov-er-nor could find no trace of them. 
He gave up hope and went back to Eng-land. 

Thus, twice the reel man made way with the 
whites, and was left king of the soil. 



CHAPTER II. 

When James I. was king, Eng-land was not so 
rich and fine a land, as it is in these davs. Queen 
Bess's reign was all life for the men of her time. 
They grew rich on the spoils of war. The Queen 
found use for them, and gave them, in this way, 
means to live, and care for wife and child. 

As rash deeds were things of the past, how 
then should men live in good old Eng-land when 






there were more hands than there was work for? 
Once more men thought of the Vir-mn land and 
laid plans to come to the New World. 

On A-pril 26, 1606, three ships came to land in 
the Ches-a-peake Bay. Cap-tain John Smith, a 




SMITH S SHIPS. 



brave man, was chief of the col-o-nists who were 
come with tools and store to found homes. Smith 
must have had a hard time of it, for the men did not 
know how to work. They were knights of the 
sword who could fight, but toil was not to their 



The Colonists. 19 

taste. Smith had so much good sense and pluck 
that they at last set to work with him to build huts 
and clear land for their towns. They gave the 
name of James Riv-er to the great stream, and 
James-town to the chief place. He made them till 
the earth and plant corn. But they were not in love 
with such toil, so most of their grain was bought of 
the Red men. 

Were they glad they had so good and wise a 
friend to think and do for them ? Not at all. They 
said he did it for his own sake, to rule and play lord 
and head man. As soon as he left them to seek 
new fields and streams, they would not sow nor reap. 
But they knew how to growl at poor Smith when 
they had naught to eat. 

Once when their stores were quite low, Smith set 
sail with some of the men to find the head of the 
Chick-a-hom-i-ny stream. He thought they could 
live on game and such things, and so leave more 
food for those left at James-town. 

On his way he came to an In-dian camp where 
he heard that there was corn to be bought. He 
thought of the scant food and at once went back to 
town with a large load of grain. Right glad they 
were to see it, but for thanks they told him he might 
have found the source of the stream first, and then 
brought the corn. 



20 



IV, 



irgima. 



The next time he went in search of new streams 
and lands he met some Red men of a tribe that 
were strange to him. They took the scalps of the 
men with him, and would have put him to the stake 
but he caught their eyes with a sight of his corn-pass. 







v 

m 



V 



_^T-t->. -*4 



^/^/-^JHs^ 



POW-HA-TAN S CAMP. 



To kill him would not do. He must first tell 
them what it was for and how to use it. They were 
in high glee with their toy, and led Smith from place 
to place and at last brought him to the great chief 
Pow-ha-tan. 



The Colonists. 



21 



This King of all the Red men was just as wild as 
the rest of them to see how the thine would work. 
When Smith had taught them all he could, with 
the hope that his life was safe, the fine old Pow-ha- 
tan gave a loud grunt and said: "White man, you 
must die !" 

John Smith made his best bow, and laid his 
head on the stone, as the King bade him. Fierce 
Red men stood with clubs high in the air to crush 
him to death. Would the blows fall ? 

Ah ! see that fair maid rush to John Smith's 
side. It is Po-ca-hon-tas. 

" Spare him, or kill me first/' were the words she 
said. 

She laid her head on that of the brave Smith 
and would not move. The old King held a pow- 
wow with his chiefs. They were all so fond of the 
pet of their tribe that they gave Smith his life for 
her sake. 

" But you must give me some guns, and a round 
stone, such .as white men use to grind knives on," 
said Pow-ha-tan. 

Smith gave his word that he should have a 
grind-stone and the arms. The King sent In-dians 
with him to James-town to fetch the things. On 
the way back with the stone and guns, the Red men, 
who did not like to bear such a load, let the stone 



22 Virginia, 



drop. As it fell it struck the guns so that some of 
them went off. The noise gave them such a fright 
that they ran for dear life as fast as they could lift 
their heels, and left stone and arms on the ground. 

But Smith had made friends with Pow-ha-tan, 
and could trade with his tribe and so keep the col- 
onists in corn in times of need. 

Cap-tains New-port and Fran-cis N el-son now 
came with fresh stores and things to trade with the 
In-clians. When New-port heard that the great 
chief Pow-ha-tan was friends with John Smith he 
thought he too would call on the Red King. 

With great pomp and pride New-port then went 
to him as if he were the great white chief come to 
talk with a Red chief. But Pow-ha-tan would not 
smile on him, and then New-port had to ask Smith 
to come and make the King move his tongue. 

When he saw the fine blue beads and bright 
gems — of no real worth — old Pow-ha-tan lost all his 
grand airs, and, like a child, took them and gave in 
trade all the grain he could spare. 

Then they went to O-pec-han-ka-nough, the chief 
of the Pa-mun-kees, and made just such a good trade 
with him. 

The col-o-nists thought they could now have a 
nice time and no work. They built thatch roofs to 
keep all this great store dry. What must have been 



The Colonists. 



23 



their grief when, just as this was done, to see flames 
break out and burn all that they had. 







BcGfi* 



SMITH TRADES WITH THE RED CHIEF. 



But fate did not mean them to die of want. The 
ship " Phoe-nix" came from Eng-land just in the time 



24 J irginia. 

of sore need. Their joy was so great that they made 
up their minds to set to work with a will like true 
men, to build and dig, to plant and reap, and send to 
the old land some signs of their toil. 

It must be a ship load. Some gold dust had 
gone from Vir-gin-ia with Cap-tain New-port, but 
they could not fill a ship with ore in such haste. 
What could they send of what they had to spare ? 

With axe and brave hearts they set to work and 
soon had a load of which they were proud. 

What do you think it was ? Why, great sticks 
of sweet Vir-gin-ia red wood.* And that was the 
first A-mer-i-can car-go. 



CHAPTER III. 

Cap-tain Smith now made his way to the Ches- 
a-peake. From there he sought new fields and 
streams, and made a map of the whole land so true 
that the men to whom he sent it in Eng-lancl had a 
£ood view of it from this chart. 

But while he made such good use of his time, 
the folks left at James-town all these months laid 
down their tools of toil. They ate up most of what 

* Cedar. 



The Colonists. 25 

they had in store, and took no pains to raise fresh 
stuff while the time was good for it. 

A nice lot of men they were, do you not think, 
to take no care for the time when their food should 
be gone ? Why, some of the beasts of the field had 
more sense. 

This was the fault of their Pres-i-dent, who 
should, as their head, have made them work. They 
saw when too late the harm of it, so they chose 
Smith once more for their Pres-i-dent, who soon had 
the best done that could be so late in the year. 

Cap-tain New-port now got back from Eng-land 
Avith a ship full of good things and some Dutch and 
Poles to do hard work, such as make pitch, tar-glass, 
and so on ; but the col-o-nists were not in a state of 
thrift at this time and had lost heart ; though the 
fault was their own. They did not like to see more 
men join them, as they thought the more mouths 
there were to feed the less they would get to put in 
their own. 

Some fine gifts were brought to that proud chief 
Pow-ha-tan with the hope that it would please him 
and make him more of a friend. But bless you, the 
old rogue took them as if it were no more than he 
ought to have, and held his head high in grand style 
with an "Ugh" like a grunt, and would not be 
friends at all. 



26 



Virginia. 



Cap-tain New-port said he would not go back to 
Eng-land till he had found three things to take with 
him : a big lump of gold, a clear way to the South 
Sea, and one of the lost men sent out by Sir Wal-ter 



Ra-leigh 



Pow-ha-tan had told him there was no way to the 




NEW-PORT S SHIP. 



South Sea, or great tract of sea, or route to a lake 
on that side of the James Riv-er Falls, where New- 
port said he was sure there was. But he did not 
heed what Smith or the Red chief told him, and 
had a nice hard time of it in the search, to come 
back sick of the time spent in vain. 



The C Won ists. 2 7 

The hunt for a lost man and a big lump of gold 
met with the same bad luck. 

Smith then said they should make up a ship-load 
of tar pitch and wood and go back with it and tell 
them that gold was not to be had in lumps. He 
then wrote word that they should not send such a 
class of men so ill fit to build up a new land, who 
could do no real good with hands or head. To 
lodge, feed, and care for such, was not a way to 
wealth, but kept clown the few who did the toil for 
all. If they had hopes of a real home for men here 
they must send those who would share the work as 
well as the stores. They must not hope to get rich 
but by great toil. There was, no doubt, gold in the 
soil, but it did not lay on the grass in lumps or 
heaps for these men to pick up and reek in wealth. 
For those who would work and live like brave, true 
men, Vir-gin-ia was the place. 

John Smith was the best friend the col-o-nists 
had. He was their brains, their hands, their hope 
when dark days were near. Yet they gave him no 
thanks, but much hate. When their times were 
good they would have some one else to rule and 
guide them. The In-dians would not deal in faith 
with the best of them, for they did not trust their 
words. They knew that Smith was true in word 
and deed. 



28 



Virginia, 



While the Colony had but one fund and share 
to each man, things did not get on well at all. But 
in due time, when Eng-land had sent a Gov-er-nor 

who could act as he 
fit, and 




saw nt, ana each 
man got a tract of 
land to till — to work 
or starve — a sense 
of thrift grew in 
their hearts. Those 
who to that time 
had to share what 
came of their toil 
with those who 
would not do their 
part, now felt it 
worth while to do 
^1 their best, as it was 
for their own use. 

Ship loads of 
m e n with their 
house-holds came to 
grow rich — so they 
thought, for some 



Ing- 



CAP-TAIN JOHN SMITH, IN THE COS-TUME OF THE -"~— £, 

TIMES - mean souls in 

land had told such wild tales of the gold to be had 
here, that no one could get them to hear the true side. 



The Colonists. 



•9 



Five hun-clred white men made up the Col-o-ny 
now. If they had gone to work right all would 
have been well. But they went to hunt for gold — 
the gold they could not see and did not dig for. To 




EN-TRANCE TO NAT-UR-AL TUN-NEL. 



feed such a lot of folks took all there was in store in 
a short while. Then came strife and rage and hard 
times. 



3o 



Virginia. 



John Smith was gone to make maps of the 
land he had found. One day his pow-der bag 




NAT-UR-AL TUN-NEL, IN SOUTH-WEST-ERN VIR-GIN-IA. 

burst and tore the flesh from his limbs in such a way 
that he was near death by the time he got to James- 



The Colonists. 3 1 

town, where help could be found to ease the great 
pain of his burns. In this sad state he could not 
aid the col-o-nists in their need. His own plight 
was most hard. The wounds did not heal and his 
burns most drove him mad ; so he made up his mind 
to go to Eng-land, to find there the aid he could not 
o*et in Vir-ein-ia. 

So the Col-o-ny lost its best friend. When he 
left it he could count four hun-dred and nine-tv whites. 
The . Red man was at peace with them and sold 
them corn. When the In-dians found Smith was 
gone, they set fire to the huts, and made w ar on 
all the white men at Pow-ha-tan and Nanse-mond, 
and drove those they did not kill to James-town, 
where the good maid Po-ca-hon-tas brought them 
food that they might not starve as time went on. 

Things were so bad soon that they had to kill 
one by one all their live stock — hogs, sheep, goats, 
old and young, and at last they ate horse-flesh, skin 
and all. Such a time had these first Vir-gin-ians, 
some books say they got so like wild beasts that they 
dug up the dead and ate of the flesh. 

Had they but gone to work in the first place, 
and by man-like acts made friends of the Red men, 
such things would not have come to pass. Is it not 
proof that the In-dian would have been less bad had 
the whites been just with him as John Smith was? 



32 Virginia. 

But they most all paid dear for their want of 
sense. So few could stand such a life that death 
came, and six months from the time John Smith left 
more than five hun-dred men, well and strong, but 
six-ty souls, re-mained to tell of their fate when 
Sir Thom-as Gates and Sir George So-mers and 
their crew came from Ber-mu-da, where their ships 
had run on the rocks on the way from Eng-land. 
But their lives were all saved. From the wreck 
they made two barks, or rafts, and on these they set 
sail for Vir-gin-ia. 

It was a sore blow for them to find just a few 
sick men, and no cheer or warm hand grasp to greet 
them. Here was lack of food, of health, of all that 
makes a place fit to name it home. 

They took the few men on board the crafts and 
with sad hearts set out for the first port. They had 
but to trust that they could reach New-found-land 
and get aid from Brit-ish ships that might be there 
for fish. 

Once more Vir-mn-ia was left to the Red man. 
Was all the toil of the past in vain ? 

No. Be-fore Sir Gates and his crafts got to the 
mouth of the James Riv-er they met Lord de la 
Ware with three ships and a large stock of food of 
all kinds. 

Those bound for home, whose lot had been so 



The Colonists. 33 

hard, had no taste to try it once more. But the fine 
hopes Lord de la Ware held out to them gave them 
new heart. So they came back to James-town. 

For two years the Col-o-ny got on, while Lord 
de la Ware was at the head, and with stern rule 
made the men work so that they would not fall back 
in the old way, not to care for the next day so long 
as that day had its food. Then Lord de la Ware 
got sick and had to go back to Eng-land, and things 
were soon in the old state. 

It was not till 1612 that a strong form of gov- 
ern-ment brought the col-o-nists to a true sense of the 
fact that they were come to build a world to which 
men might turn and share of the grand gifts God 
had left here for them. And soon there came great 
big ships with freight of souls who spread from 
place to place. Those who came with so much of 
means of their own that they could pay their way on 
the ship had great tracts of land to call their own. 
This was a "grant" by the King to make men wish 
to risk so long a trip at sea, if when they got to the 
end they could be rich with such gift on which to 
build homes. 

How kind of the King! to give so much, at no 
loss to his own fine self, and so be well rid of those 
he could not care for at home. 

But when they got nice farms and thought they 



34 Virginia. 

would now reap rich crops or lay in good stores, the 
King held out' his hand and said : "A good share is 
mine; give it up." They did all the work. ''You 
sow," said the King; "I will reap grains of gold 
from the sweat of your brows." 

I must now tell you of the good, kind Po-ca-hon- 
tas, the child of Pow-ha-tan, who would not let the 
Red chief kill John Smith, and in their worst need 
brought as much food to the col-o-nists as she could, 
so that they might not quite starve. 

One time Pow-ha-tan went far from his home to 
hunt. He left Po-ca-hon-tas to the care of an old 
chief, I-ap-a-zaws by name. That old rogue fell in 
love with a bright pan of cop-per, I think, or brass. 
It shone so that the heart of I-ap-a-zaws was made 
false to his trust, and he told Cap-tain Ar-gall, a 
white man who came to him to buy corn, that he 
would give him Po-ca-hon-tas for that bright pan. 

"All right," said the white man, and poor Po-ca- 
hon-tas, who had been so good to them, was held by 
the white men as a host, so that they could make 
fine terms with Pow-ha-tan to get her back. But 
the chief was in a high rage when he found out the 
trick. 

"You just give me back my girl or I'll fight!" 
said he. 

No doubt there would have been grave times, 



The Colonists. 



35 



but the sweet girl found a true heart in the white 

man's camp, and by the time the maid was to be 

sent back a 

Mr. Rolfe had 

won her for his 

bride. 

Pow-ha-tan 
made the best 
of it. No 
harm had come 
to his child. 
When the 
Prin-cess Po- | 
ca-hon-tas was = 
wed by the 
rites of the 
E n g - 1 i s h 
church in 
great pomp 
the show did 
his proud 
heart so much 
good that he 
was from that 

j.j fhp PO-CA-HON-TAS, IN THE FASH-ION-A-BLE ENG-LISH COS-TUME 

l i in e o n i n e OF THF pfr .i_od. 

tniP friPnd of (Copied from an Original Drawing.) 

the whites. It was through his will that the Chick- 




->6 Virginia. 

a-hom-i-nies and tribes not so strong as his own got 
to be their stanch friends too, and said they would live 
by the laws of King James and pay a tax just like 
the whites, and take up arms in the King's cause if 
need be. 

Thus we see how much we owe this brave maid, 
and how proud the child may be who can say, " I 
have of her blood in my veins. ' 

Mr. Rolfe took her to Eng-land, where she was 
made a great pet at court. John Smith had told of 
her brave and kind deeds, and this, with the charms 
of her own mind made all who met her love her. 

She died at Graves-end, in Eng-land, while on 
her way back to the old home in Vir-gin-ia with Mr. 
Rolfe and their child. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The time was now at hand for the col-o-nists to 
think of Vir-gin-ia as a place fit for such good homes 
as the help of wives could make. Men so far had 
come just to find a field to grow rich in, or to 
try their luck and skill in the New World. They 
of course thought to go back to the old land some 
time, where the ties of moth-er, wife, or such of kin 



The Coloiiists. 



37 






as kept the name of home clear were left, but when 
their crops were so good that they sold corn to the 
Red men, where once they had to buy, and when the 
love of this free mode of life gave birth in their minds 
to the wish to build hearths on this grand soil, they 
had brought from Eng-land twelve hun-dred and six- 
ty-one men, some 
of whom had wives, 
and with them 
were nine-ty strong, 
fair maids who 
were soon to be 
wives, as you will 
see. 

The men who 
had paid their way 
to Vir-gin-ia sold 
them for one hun- 
dred pounds of to- 
bac-co each to the 
young plan-ters. 

They were so 
glad and proud of their wives, who made such sweet 
cheer for them, and were in truth real help-mates, 
that those who had no wives sent to the Old Land 
for more of just such poor, but good, girls to wed 
with them. 




MOUN-TAIN-EER S HOME, IN WEST-ERN VIR-GIN-IA. 



J 



8 Virginia. 



What joy they brought ! But a wife was a 
prize of such great worth that the price went up, and 
a man had to pay a good deal more than one hun- 
dred pounds of to-bac-co for her. When a man had 
thus home and wile the land on which his home was 
made grew dear to him. He thought him of the best 
way to make that land fit to love, and keep that 
home in the best of care. When true men own 
land they wish to have a voice in the way laws 
should be made, so that what he owns shall not be 
laid claim to by some one else. 

Right here is where Vir-gin-ia made a true and 
bold move. Men of less pluck would first have sent to 
the King and said," May we do this, may we do that?" 
But these bold, brave men said, " We now have 
home and lands. How shall we best guard them?" 
Sir Thom-as Yeard-ley was the Gov-er-nor at this 
time. He was wise and good He told men to 
meet,- two from each town or place where one hun- 
dred men had made farm homes to call their own. 

Two men were sent by the plan-ters to speak for 
them in this way, and this was the first North 
A-mer-i-can leg-is-la-ture. 

No doubt in this first as-sem-bly was born that 
grand germ which gives to us a land where all men 
are free to make their own laws, if they are for the 
good of all. The King could not have made such 



The Colonists. 



; i 



fair ones for them. On his throne way off in Eng- 
land, how could he judge what their needs were ? 

Still, if he could have seen what a fine school of 
thought his sub-jects met in at James-town one day 
in June, 1619, and had a peep through the eye of 
time, to see how well men could get on with no 
kings and queens to work for, he might have put a 
stop to the game in which thrones would come to 
have no part. 

In this year a ^juij 
school was built in r - 
Hen-ri-co. King 
James made all 
the bish-ops in 
Eng-land give 
great sums for this M^ 
school, so that the f 
I n - d i a n youth 
could be taught to 
read and write. 
It got to be a fine large place where the young Vir- 
gin-ians were taught how to read and think. 

Up to this time the plan-ters had no help on 
their farms, but poor mean men, who, for some bad 
deed, were bound out to serve those who had need 
of their work. Such help could not have been 
worth much, so when in Au-gust, 1620, a Dutch 




SCHOOL-HOUSE. 



40 Virginia. 

ship brought to the Col-o-ny some black men from 
Af-ri-ca in trade, it would have been strange if the 
Vir-gin-ians had not bought them. Had they not 
bought wives of their own race? It was no shame 
to trade for their needs. Was the lot of the black 
man worse now than it had been with the brutes 
who stole them ? These were the first slaves in Vir- 
ginia, and right glad they must have been to go 
from the dark hold of the Dutch ship to light, air, 
and fresh food. 

The rule of King James in Eng-land was now 
so harsh, that the tide of hope made more men wish 
to come to A-mer-i-ca. This was not to the Kino's 
taste. He thought it was time to make them feel 
his wand here. They must not have things so 
much their own way. He would send a man to 
keep them down, and make such laws as he had in 
his realm. But the heart of the New World had 
grown strong, and the friends in the Old World 
stood by the col-o-nists and sent them a man to be 
Gov-er-nor whom they could trust. More good laws 
were made, a " char-ter of free-dom" was sent, to 
the King, and thus step by step these men got to know 
how sweet it was to make rules for their own way of 
life, where each man had his say when the time came 
for them to meet. They gave to the King his tax, 
but they would not let him make their laws. 



The Colonists. 41 

While Pow-ha-tan was chief, there was no cry 
from the Reel man as the whites took more and 
more of his land. He died in 16 18, and his brother 
O-pec-han-ca-nough was made chief. He was sly 
and full of hate for the white man. He took on the 
mask of truth, and said he would keep peace and 
good will like Pow-ha-tan. This he did not mean 
to do. He meant to get rid of the whites the first 
thing. He would have gone to war, but the} 7 had 
the best arms. W ith low craft he then laid a plan 
by which he would be safe, but it would make an 
end to the whites. He would give them poi-son ! 

By good luck none of this stuff could be found 
in his tribe, so he had to ask the king of the one 
near to him for it. This chief would not hear of the 
plot, as he was at peace with the col-o-nists and 
made good trade with them. 

What should he do next? What was left but 
to slay them in cold blood ? This was quite in his 
line. The farms were here and there some miles 
a-part on each side of the James Riv-er. The 
whites had been friends so long with the Red men 
that all fear from them was at an end. They did 
not look to their arms, for were they not at peace 
with the Red men ? 

The wretch O-pec-han-ca-nough was so mild and 
sweet to them, while tie laid plans with the tribes, 



42 



Virginia. 



some of whom ate at their ta-bles and slept in their 
beds, to put them off their guard. When the vile 
plot was ripe, they went to work at their deeds of 




AT PEACE WITH THE RED MAX. 



^i< 6 



blood. They would go to a house as if to trade, 
and fall with knife on the large and small ere a cry 
could come from their lips. 



The Colonists. 43 

But one of the Red men had some sense of the 
good done him by a white man, who had taught him 
how to read, to pray, and to love God. He told 
this friend, Mr. Pace, of the plot in time to save 
him. Mr. Pace at once ran to a boat and went to 
James-town, woke up the Gov-er-nor and had help 
sent out. The call to arms sent the base In-dians 
to flight, and by that means some homes and lives 
were left to build up Vir-gin-ia in the time to come. 

If they had but sought blood for blood in this 
sad hour, nor left one of the Red men, all would 
have been well. But they must have lost heart and 
pluck. They left their farms and schools and work- 
shops in sheer fright and came to one place to stay. 
Some of them would not try once more, but soon set 
sail for the old home. 

When the news of this fate eot there all En^- 
land felt so bad that at once ship loads of stores 
were sent. And King James wept, 'tis said, and 
made haste to lend those left some rust-worn arms. 
I do not think his tears were from the heart, for he 
did his best to take from those who had spent so 
much time, cash, and care to make Vir-gin-ia what it 
was, the laws they had made to suit their new way of 
life, and kept them in what we might say "a fine 
mess"— they could not call him a friend, for he gave 
them no help from his own cash box. Kings think 



44 Virginia. 

they have a right to take all they can, but need not 
give of their own stores. 

The plan-ters now knew they could not trust the 
Red men. They soon made up their minds that one 
safe way to live here was to strike back as they had 
been struck. We read that the poor Red man had 
a hard time of it from this time on. The whites 
drove them from their camps and took their grain, 
and did to the fierce Red men just as they had been 
done by. It was war to the knife, and the Red 
men at last got the worst of it. Was it not their 
own fault ? 

To stand on guard for dear life in this way, 
made men keen to stand up for the rights thus 
bought. Each man felt in him the nerve to throw 
off the yoke of a King. So when King James saw he 
could not bend them to his will by foul means, he 
put on a sweet face and said they could do just as 
they thought best, as long as they sent him his share 
of what they made. 

So they went on with their to-bac-co trade, had 
fine crops, and now felt like free men with dear 
homes and grand hopes. 



The Colonists. 45 



CHAPTER V. 

In the year 1625 King James died. Charles I., 
his son, then came to the throne. He let the Vir- 
gin-ians have their own laws. He saw that they 
were true to their King in their own way. They 
made towns, shires, and spread wealth with their 
keen plans and brave toil. Why should he make 
strife in the mind of good will ? 

The fame of Vir-gin-ia, with its new peace, fair 
laws, and fine soil, brought to her shores one thou- 
sand more em-i-grants at this time, so we can see that 
the land is bound to stay the white man's home. 

One thing more I must tell ; then we will turn to 
the great strife with the Old Land. 

In 1629 the King sent a man to be Gov-er-nor, 
who was not to the taste of our bright Vir-gin-ians. 
He was a proud, bad man. His greed was so great 
that he would take what was not his own. For 
sums of gold he took the land from those who had a 
right to it and gave it to the new men who had just 
come. That is but one of his vile tricks. The Vir- 
gin-ians would not stand that, I can tell you. They 
did not lone bear with a King No. 2, as this Sir 



46 Virginia. 

John Har-vey tried to be. They told him he should 
not rule them. He thought they would not dare to 
put him from his self-made throne, as he was sent 
by the King to do as he saw fit. But they made 
things so warm for him that he, in a vast rage, set 
sail for Eng-land, to tell his "wrongs" to the King. 

With great joy they let him sail, and sent at the 
same time a true state of the case by men of their 
own views. Oh, how mad the King was ! Not 
with his Sir Har-vey, but with those who had dared 
to "clear out" the man he, the King, had sent. 
Why, they might as well tell the King to move on. 
This would not do. Har-vey was sent back. They 
had to bear his rule. But mind you, in their 
hearts there now grew the plant on which they fed. 
It gave them strength, and those who were born 
from them, to be brave in the face of what had to 
come. Sir Har-vey soon left the scene. One more 
thing it will please you to know of that time. Coins 
were not in use as we use them. To-bac-co took the 
place. When crops were so good that this plant did 
not bring what it did when it was scarce, they burnt 
some, so that the rest would bring the price they 
had to have, that they could live and not go in debt. 

We are not quit of that wretch, O-pec-han-ca- 
nough. When he got so old he could not walk, he 
was the soul of a plan to kill the whites that were 




\> 3 



48 Virginia. 

some miles from large towns. He and his tribes 
did slay and burn, but the whites were" in trim 
to meet them this time, and the blood shed was 
not so great. From this time on they were on 
guard night and day. But it was hard lines for 
the poor Red man too. The more white men 
that came, the less of the land that was once 
their own was left for them. The white man shot 
his game, cut down his trees, laid claim to his corn- 
hills, and left him no spot for the wig-wam of his 
squaws. 

The fate of the old chief was not grand. When 
the whites beat him back, his fine war-riors fled, 
and he was left to the white foe. He could not 
run, he could not see, for the strength to lift his eye- 
lids had left him in his old age. 

When he was led to Sir Wil-liam Berke-ley, 
who was Gov-er-nor then, his tongue would not tell 
what he thought. His head was held as high as the 
poor old weak chief could get it. 

What would have been done to him by a just 
court who can say, for he was shot in the back by a 
man whose home he had burned, and whose wife 
and child had been slain. 

We now leave Vir-gin-ia in the hands of Sif 
Wil-liam Berke-ley. He was just in his rule in so 
far as he thought he was right. But he had no 



The Colonists. 49 

views that were not true to the King and the faith 
of the King — the Church of Eng-lantl. So those 
who came to Vir-gin-ia with hopes and faith not like 
the King's, did not fare well. 

So it came to pass when King Charles I. lost 
his head, and Crom-well's rule was in force, that 
Vir-gin-ians did not bend their heads to him as 
quick as "Noll' thought they should. He sent 
war ships at once to bring them to terms. But our 
proud Vir-gin-ians had a word to say as well. They 
said it, too. They told him he might rule in his 
own way in Eng-land if the folks there let him ; he 
could rule here as well, but — Ah, it was one thing 
to rule, and one thing to make laws and fix tax rates ; 
Vir-gin-ians knew best what was right and just — if 
Mr. "Noll" had their good at heart, he would let 
them be as they were — and they would make oath 
that they were now part of the great Com-mon- 
wealth. This was the name by which the rule of 
Crom-well was known. 

They had their way in this much at least ; but at 
heart they were still King's men. Vir-gin-ia held 
out her arms to those who had to fly from Eng-land, 
for these were sad times for the friends of the throne. 
They came here to weep for the dead Charles, and 
sent cheer and hope to his son, Charles II., who 
had no place to call his own, who did not dare to 



50 Virginia. 

show his face in Eng-land, for fear his foes would 
hunt him to death. In this dark hour, word came 
to him where he was hid in Flan-ders, that Vir- 
ginia had a ship at hand, so that he could come 
there — to that part of his king-dom where men were 
still true to him who was now their King. 

Charles II. was thus. King of Vir-gin-ia, though 
he had not been made King of Eng-land yet. 

But the crown soon came to him. So glad was 
he for the love and trust shown him by Vir-gin-ians 
that he had a robe made of silk spun in Vir-gin-ia. 
This he wore on the day he first sat on the Eng-lish 
throne. Then he had the coat of arms of Vir-gin-ia 
put on the shield with the roy-al arms of Eng-land, 
Ire-land, and Scot-land. This firm stand by the 
old do-min-ion of kings gave to Vir-gin-ia the name 
"Old Do-min-ion State," that clings to it still. 

I wish I could tell you Charles II. 's thanks were 
so deep that his rule was one to be proud of. 

It was not. He had great need of funds. The 
style of his reign had need of a full cash box. The 
young world must give more and more. Then the 
fine King, who had pets he thought ought to be 
rich, gave them vast grants of land ; in fact, one day, 
when in a gay mood, he gave to two of his chief pets 
the whole of Vir-gin-ia to hold and reap from for 
thir-ty-one years. 



The Colonists. 51 

A free hand had this dear King. Did the Vir- 
gin-ians like meek sheep walk out of their homes 
and let the King's pets walk in ? 

Oh, no. But there was woe in store for them. 
The Gov-er-nor, a true blue King's man, was all for 
the King. There were for-ty thou-sand souls here 
at this time, and more than a few of these were just 
a bit for self, and the land and homes the King with 
a stroke of his pen would rob them of. 

To stand up for their rights is the right of all 
men ; but there must be a guide, a head, to plan and 
lead, so that some will not go this way and some 
that, and none reach the end in view. One must 
be bold and strong to make a dash and break a new 
way, to lift men out of old ruts, and give them pluck 
to rush the new road with you. 

It seems as if there are men born to fit the 
needs of just such times as Vir-gin-ia is come to now 
— to shake up minds and give life to a new line of 
thought. A young man not quite thir-ty years of 
age, by name Na-than-iel Ba-con, is the one to set 
men's souls in a flame and shake the heart of Kind's 
men. 

He came to the front like a flash. He was of 
Eng-lish birth and of near kin to Lord Cul-pep-per. 
He had the gifts that won the hearts of men. He 
was soon made one of the Coun-cil. The place 



5 2 



Virginia. 



where the best men were sent to make the laws for 
those who sent them. His lands and home were 




NA-THAN-IEL BA-CON. 



known as the Curies Plan-ta-tion, on the James 
Riv-er, near Hen-ri-cus-town, where the Red men 



The Colojiists. 53 

had a fine chance to creep up, with no guard at 
hand to watch them. The In-dians had more than 
once done great harm with knife and torch in all 
these years, and Ba-con had fought diem in so brave 
a way, that the Vir-gin-ians who were not King's 
men thought he was just the man to lead a war on 
the sly Red foe, to whip them so that an end would 
be made to their blood-shed, and the white man feel 
safe for a time at least. 

To give him this right, he had to get a corn-mis- 
sion from the Gov-er-nor. He asked for it in vain. 
One night the Red foe struck at. Ba-cons home, 
took the scalps of some of his work-men, and set out 
to burn towns and kill more whites. 

Ba-con rose up and swore he would stop this 
wrong in spite of Gov-er-nor or King's Coun-cil. 
At the head of a big force he set out. They found 
the foe in camp on a hill not far from where the Ci-ty 
of Rich-mond now stands. 

Then was fought the Bat-tie of Blood-y Run. 
It oot this name from the streams of blood that ran 
down the hill, through which the white men had to 
wade, with fierce blows, to rout and take the In- 
dians still left. 

With no great loss of life to his own men, and 
a host of cap-tive Red fiends, Ba-con and his force 
came back to James-town. 



54 Virginia. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Would you not think that Sir Wil-liam Berke- 
ley ought to have had joy bells rung, and come out 
in great state to thank Ba-con and his brave men ? 
But bless you, no such thing took place ! 

What right had Ba-con to make war on friend 
or foe, since he, the King's Gov-er-nor, did not give 
him leave? 

What, had things come to such a pass as this ? 
Sir Wil-liam was in a fine rage. He would soon 
quell this hand-ful of rash men. He had quite a 
shock when he found not a " hand-ful," but a grand 
mass of men up in arms to take Ba-con's part. 

Sir Wil-liam was a wise man. He did not fight 
just then. It was not as safe as he had thought. 
He would stroke the mad men down, and bide his 
time. " If you wish to change the face of things in 
my gov-ern-ment, why, you dear folks, do you not 
change it? E-lect new men to do your will," said he. 

They did so at once, and one of the men they 
chose was our bright young Ba-con, who had been 
the first to act his own sweet will, and made war 
on the Red foe in spite of Sir Wil-liam. 



The .Colonists. 55 

Worse and worse. If this state of mind was 
not put down, how would it end for the King's Gov- 
er-nor? That bold man Ba-con must be caught in 
a trap and shut up ; this would stop the strife. 

A plan was made, the head of the reb-els caught 
and led to Sir Wil-liam. Would he have him shot, 
cut his head off, chain him for life — this young man 
who was so full of hot blood that he set the whole 
land in a flame to dare the King's law ? 

A hush was on the mass of men who had their 
eyes on the scene. Young Ba-con did not flinch. 
The proud old King's man was face to face with 
him. Sir Wil-liam, no doubt, would like to have 
sent him to the guard-house in chains, but he did 
not dare ; to glare at Ba-con did not hurt him, and 
Ba-con knew well how to glare back. At last Sir 
Wil-liam said : 

''Mr. Ba-con, are you a gen-tle-man ?" 

" May it please you, sir, I am," said Ba-con. 

"Then I will not lock you up," said Sir Wil-liam. 

This meant that Ba-con might be free to breathe 
the air, but should not leave the town. 

One day the Coun-cii met, and Sir Wil-liam 
Berke-ley once more had Ba-con brought to him. 

"Mr. Ba-con," said he, "if you will live in peace, 
like a good man, you shall be free to go your way ; 
but you must first bide here till I see you mean to 



56 Virginia. 

do no more harm ; then will I give you a corn-mis- 
sion as Gen-er-al of the In-dian wars." 

More than this Ba-con or his friends did not ask 
in the first place, so Ba-con gave his word. 

But time went by, and Sir Wil-liam did not 
keep his word ; the next thing he heard was that 
Ba-con had fled. He had gone to join his men, 
and was on his way, at their head, to lead them on 
James-town. 

Sir Wil-liam's troops were not in such grand 
form that they could drive them out, so the Ba-con- 
ites took the town, and with beat of drums went 
to the State house. Sir Wil-liam and the King's 
Coun-cil came out to meet them. In wild rage the 
Gov-er-nor tore the lace from his breast and cried : 
"Here! Shoot! Shoot me! Be-fore God a fine 
mark am I to shoot at !" 

Right calm then said young Ba-con : " No, may 
it please your Hon-or, we will not hurt a hair of 
your head. We are come for that com-mis-sion to 
save our lives from the In-dians, and now we will 
have it !" 

"Yes, have it we will!" came like a shout of 
rage from all. 

If Ba-con had in that hour said the word they 
would have shot down Kind's man and Coun-cil. 
The end of this scene was that Ba-con was made 



The Colonists. 57 

Gen-er-al-in-Chief of Vir-gin-ia — to make war on the 
In-dians — and some who were not In-dians. He 
did not give Vir-gin-ians cause to take back their 
trust in him, it is said. 

In the mean-time the Gov-er-nor had but to bide 
his time. When the coast was clear of Ba-con, 
who had gone to drive off the Red foe, Sir Wil-liam 
once more pro-claimed him and his friend and troops 
"reb-els and trai-tors." 

"So !" said Ba-con, when he heard it. " Must I 
go back to slay the white fox first ?" 

And back he came. Vir-gin-ians rose as one mass 
to stand by him. They wrote their griefs to the 
King, while the Gov-er-nor went to York to get help 
to crush the Ba-con-ites. Now said Ba-con, "You 
must swear to stand by me and fight the King's 
troops here till we shall hear from the King." 

That was, to be sure, right down rash talk. If 
they should fail, and Sir Wil-liam and his troops 
win, up would they go with a rope, the less brave 
ones said. 

Just then a cry fell on their ears: "The In- 
dians! the In-dians are on us!" 

Large and small ones, wife, child, and kin fled 
to the fort for aid. The mass did not now wait 
long. Quick Ba-con had their word, and just as 
quick he was on the heel of the fierce Red foe. 



58 Virginia. 

Thus the young world was up in arms to fight the 
old just one hun-dred years ere the time her yoke 
was quite cast off. A new form of gov-ern-ment was 
made. Hope for fair times grew strong with all. 

" What if a fleet of war ships are sent from Eng- 
land to crush us," was the dread cry of some one. 

"I care not a that for Eng-land !" said Dame 
Drum-mond, the brave wife of a brave man, as she 
took up a stick, with a mad snap broke it in two, 
and cast it from her. 

But while Ba-con was on the In-dian war-path, 
Sir Wil-liam Berke-ley came with sev-en-teen ships 
and *one thou-sand men — once more James-town 
was in the hands of the King's men. Back comes 
young Ba-con. He laid a nice plot for Sir Wil- 
liam, to bring that true King's man to terms. He, 
in some way, had the wives of the head men of Sir 
Berke-ley's side, with La-dy Berke-ley, brought to his 
camp. Then Ba-con sent word to Sir Berke-ley that 
his wife and her friends would serve his men as a 
shield. To fire at him they must send the shot 
through the breast of their dames. 

What rage and woe there was in the Berke-ley 
camp ! 

"So our dear dames must serve as white guards 
to this 'fiend and his black-guards,'" the poor men 
could but moan. What was left for them to do but 



The Colonists. 



59 



save their wives and leave the coast clear for the 
cute foe ? 

Sir Wil-liam and his troops did not give up their 
cause. Ba-con heard he was on his way with more 
men to take the town. ''Well," said he, "we will 
burn it, so they can find no place to lodge when they 
get here." 

This was done, and the strife kept up in the face 




m9Sm 

OLD TOWER AT JAMES-TOWN. 



of the King's troops. They had a hard time with 
Ba-con's men. What the end would have been, 
who can tell, had not Ba-con, the head and soul 
of this stand for man's rights, been laid low in 
death. 

'Tis said the King's men gave him poi-son to be 



<5o Virginia. 

rid of him, while some say he caught his death of 
cold got in rain and storm at the head of his troops. 
Be that as it may, you can think of him as a fine 
young soul who had in his veins the flame from 
which sprung that grand truth, then not known, that 
men need no prince or king to rule them or make 
their laws. We are all kings by the grace of brains, 
if we do the best we can with such brains as God 
gives to us. 

Ba-con's corpse was sunk in the James Riv-er 
where his foes could not find it. With this rash, 
brave soul out of his way, Sir Berke-ley rose in all 
his strength to crush the 4 ' reb-els." The noose and 
rope did the work well for him. Men were strung 
up on all sides. Their lands Sir Berke-ley gave to 
his own friends. His wrath was so great that he 
lost sight of what was just, and did some right mean 
things. 

The girls of those days were not less brave than 
the men, I can tell you, to judge by the kind of 
wives they made. 

Dame Cheese-man, the wife of one of Ba-con's 
men, stood up proud and strong when Sir Berke-ley 
said to her good man, in fierce tones: "Why did 
you make war on me and the King?" 

"'Twas I that set him on." Then she knelt 
down to pray that Sir Berke-ley might hang her and 



The Colonists. 61 

let her good man go — since she was the cause of his 
crime. 

I do not know, but Sir Berke-ley may have hung 
them both. He was a right mad man, and said 
some words to her that blot his name to this day on 
the page of time. 

Poor man ! he was all for the King ; but, when 
sick at heart with his hard lines in Vir-gin-ia, he set 
sail for Eng-land, and left these shores while joy 
bells were rung to see him go, he found poor thanks 
when he got to the King's door, for all he had borne 
and done for him. The King would not see him ! 

Sir Wil-liam's heart was broke. One year from 
die time of Ba-con's death, in Ju-ly 1677, Sir Berke- 
ley was laid to rest. 

Watch and work is the tale of Vir-gin-ians for 
years. They were true to the King when the King 
let them bide by their own laws. 

So far the young had not found much chance to 
learn. There were but two large schools in Vir- 
gin-ia, in 1 69 1. Then a Mr. Blair went to Eng- 
land to ask for the right, and aid as well, to build 
a col-lege. 

It was in the reign of Wil-liam and Ma-ry, who 
at once said Mr. Blair should have the funds and 
right (Char-ter). But Eng-land was at war, and the 
At-tor-ney-Gen-er-al said they had need of all the 



62 Virginia. 

funds at home. The col-lege was to be a school in 
which young men could learn to preach. The Gen- 
er-al did not wish the King and Queen to grant Mr. 
Blair's wish, as he did not see the use of such a 
school. 

"We have souls to save in Vir-gin-ia as well as 
you have here," said Mr. Blair. 

"Souls to save ! D — n your souls! Make to- 
;/ife wife.;. Dofe (dofe hofe lofe nofe rof-% bac-co . said the 

Ufe Cure mule,), Elfe. Bate date face eatft Well bred Gen-er-al. 
Bate late mate pate rate. Bite kite mite me. R n f our Mr 

Dnemoteinoteivote. Lute.tnuie. Cave have r)1 . i • 1 

pave rave fave wave. D>ve five hive (grve live ijlair got hlS Cliar- 
five)» Rove (dove love,) (move). Gaze maze. £ er a J] f- ne same 
Size ' 

7/r ' r r n ,l s • r? l? r»- an d was made the 

Mjre eafy Lejjins on tht fore%oin* TdFer, cDnjijttng ~ . . 

of Words not exceeding Four Lsiisrs. nrst r reS-1-deilt OI 

G ftn LEM, / r / ,, "Wil-liam and 

OD dothi mind ail that we fay and do. -» y r^ ] ] " 

This Life is not long s but the Life to M a - r y L,Ol-lege, 
come has no End. the well known 

We mult love them that do not love us, aa t • t . ■ , r 

well as them thac do love us. U -11 l-\ e 1-S 1-t V OI 

We muft prav for them that hate u*. Vll'-glll-ia, I 70O. 

PAGE FROM AN OLD SCHOOL-BOOK. T 4- ,,,. „ „ U .,..., i. 

down in 1705, but soon built up once more. The 

last time it was the toy of fierce flames, was in 1862. 

It came up grand as of old, to be now, and in the 

time to come, as it has been in the past, the brain 

school of Vir-ein-ians that stand out on the best 

• 

page of the book in which we write the deeds and 



The Colonists. 



63 



thoughts we are proud of, and the names of men 
who have made fame for this grand, free land. 



CHAPTER VII. 



One of the best Gov-er-nors of Vir-gin-ia was 
Col-o-nel Al-ex-an-der Spots-wood. In his time the 
Scotch, I-rish, and Dutch came in great ship loads 
to make their homes in the sweet vale of the Shen- 




WIL-LIAM AND MA-RY COL-LEGE, WIL LIAMS-BURG, VIR-GIN-IA. 

an-do-ah. It was Spots-wood who led the way to 
the heights of the Blue Ridge, where white man's 
foot had not trod un-til his bold move in 1716. 



6 4 



Virginia. 



•I 




What a feast 
for the eyes 
must have 
been this 
first view of 
the grand 
wave of land 
that met their 
sight when 
they got to 
the top. 

There must 
be in some of 
the old homes 
i n 

a small 
horse-shoe, on 
which the 
words may be 
seen — Sic ju- 
rat transcen- 
ds e -re mon- 
ies. (Thus he 
swears to cross 
the moun- 
tain.) TheKing 
hadsuchakeep- 
sake made for 



Vir-gin-ia 
gold 



The Colonists. 65 

Spots-wood, and he made him Sir Knight at the 
same time, when he came back to tell of his ride 
and what he had found. Spots-wood had a gold 
horse-shoe made just like his own for each of the 
men who were with him on the wild trip. 

The girl or boy who is heir to one of these old 
keep-sakes may feel a just sense of pride. 

The fame of Col-o-nel Spots-wood's new find, of 
land soon spread from place to place, and brought to 
the vale and hills Dutch from Penn-syl-va-nia, who 
had an eye for fine rich soil ; in this way the smart 
Dutch came to build homes in some of the choice 
spots of Vir-gin-ia. But the great flow of folks to 
this part came from the Old Land, through the bright 
thought born in the lon^ head of a Scotch- 1 -rish-man 
by the name John Lew r -is. He and a man by the 
name of Mack-ey heard of the vale so rich in bloom, 
where one had but to claim a spot and till the soil to 
be at once a rich man. 

Lew-is at once hit on a fine rich grant of one 
hun-dred thou-sand a-cres, that he could have if he 
brought one hun-dred men and their wives to build 
up a set-tle-ment. This he did. They were most 
all Scotch-I-rish of the best kind, from whom are 
sprung a race of men we may w T ell be glad to 
breathe the air of a free land with. 

And what praise is too great for the wives and 



66 Virginia. 

girls of that race ! Shall you blush for them when 
I tell you how they set to work with their own 
hands to build their house of God — the church 
where they might hear His word, and where they 
could go to sing and pray on Lord's Day ? 

While the men and boys did their share, the 
-wives and girls with hearts in a flame with the zeal 
of their faith, brought the sand, sack by sack, six 
miles. The brave wife would fill a sack and put it 
on the back of a horse and ride with it to the spot 
where the men were at work, with stone, to build 
the walls. 

I think I see the bright eyes of some of the girls 
who read this flash, not with scorn, but joy, that she 
is of the sex who have done this. Those brave girls J 
had sons in the time to come, and these were the 
men who gave their lives, when they went hence to : 
war for an e-ter-nal fight to live free from rule of 
king or queen. 

And when the Lord's house was built, folks 
came from far and wide to take there the Lord s 
Sup-per. Doors were flung wide for days in all 
homes, and the best of the fruits of the land, of the 
stock, of the field, was set free to all who came from 
a-far to this feast of thanks to God. 

These w 7 ere the Pres-by-te-ri-ans of the old Virgin- 
ia days. They were here free to serve Him in their 



The Colonists. 



6 7 



faith, for the sake of which they had to leave the 
Old Land of their youth ; though 'tis said that 
John Lew-is had to leave Ire-land, not for his faith 
so much as that he had to leave for a shot at a bad 
land-lord. And the shot was made with a good 
aim, it seems, for the bad land-lord fell — to rise no 
more. There is truth in the "sur-vi-val of the fit- 
test," or, the best 
shall live on ; for 
the Lew-is stock 
lives yet in fine 
style, but the 
I-rish land-lord 
has a hard time 
to make his way, 
and at times -is 
known to fall by 
the way-side, just 
as John Lew-is' 

did more than church NEAR smith-field, said to have been built 

one hun-dred and 

fif-ty years since. Some of the sons of John Lew-is 
fell in a grand cause of war. When he was quite 
an old man he stood at a port-hole, with his girl 
Mar-ga-ret by his side, to re-load his gun, and sent 
shot on shot at the Red men who came to burn his 
and oth-er homes while on the war-path in the vale. 





68 



CY-CLO-PE-AN TOW-ERS, AU-GUS-TA COUN-TY. 



The Colonists. 69 

The Gen-er-al Lew-is you read of in his-to-ry was 
one of his sons. 

A grand-son who was sick in bed at the time of 
our dear land's first call to arms in the Rev-o-lu-tion, 
had sons to take his place. His wife, a dame of 
true soul, bade these young men (for they were but 
13, 15, and 17 years old at the time): "Go, my boys, 
I'll spare not one of you to be the staff of our old 
days. Go, my coun-try needs you ! Keep back the 
foot of the ty-rant from the soil of Au-gus-ta (the 
coun-ty where their home stood), or see my face no 
more !" 

When Wash-ing-ton was told of this sweet dame 
his eyes were in a glow of pride. "Ah," he cried, 
" leave me but a flag to plant on the hills of Au- 
gus-ta, and 111 bring to it the men who will lilt our 
land from the dust, and set her free !" 

Mack-ey, who came to the vale with Lew-is, did 
not find time to grow rich and make a name ; he was 
too fond of his gun and long tramps through the 
woods and dells ; but a Mr. Ben-ja-mm Bur-den, 
who met Lew-is and went with him to his home, 
had a fine time with his gun and friend. One day 
they caught a young buf-fa-lo. This kind of "game" 
was new to the part of Yir-gin-ia where Bur-den 
came from, so he thought he would take it to \\ ll- 
liams-burg as a gift to the Gov-er-nor. This pet 



• Colonists. j i 

gave Gov-er-nor Gooch so much joy, that he was not 
loath to hear what Bur-den had to say of the place 
from whence this rare wild beast came. The end 
of it was that Bur-den got a vast grant of land on 
the James Riv-er, and by the Shen-an-do-ah ; and 
on these lands Bur-den soon had more than one 
hun-clred men with their wives and boys and girls 
from Eng-land, Ire-land, and Scot-land. 

Some of the best names in the his-to-ry of our 
land were born of this stock. 

A girl by the name of Pol-ly Mul-hol-lin, who 
came at this time, had rare grit. She saw that one 
of her sex had not much chance to make her way to 
wealth. She put on mens clothes like a woods- 
man, and like a man made her claims to some land 
in Bur-den's grant. Here she built thir-ty cab-ins. 
This gave her the right to own one hun-clred a-cres 
for each. That is, there was a rule that those who 
built a home had a right to so much land. It was 
known as "Cab-in rights." 

When the time came for deeds to these rights or 
claims to be made out, the men who had that to do 
thought it strange that such a lot of Mul-hol-lms 
had claims. But they thought it still more queer 
when they found that there was but one Mul-hol-hn, 
and that one a girl ! 

It is said that there was no red clo-ver in Vir- 



72 Virginia. 

gin-ia till Lew-is came. The white kind grew wild 
in the fields and on the banks of streams. Lew-is 
brought red clo-ver seed from his old home, and set 
it out where it grew so fast that it spread to all the 
farms he had claims on. 

The In-dians of course saw that a change had 
come to their well known white clo-ver. And they 
at once said that the blood of the Red men slain by 
Lew-is and his friends had left a stain on Lew-is' 
ground that would to the end of time dye all his 
sweet clo-ver with the shade of his crimes. 

The Red men did not stop to think that they 
were the ones to strike the first blow. If the Lew-is-es 
had not shot back and shed the blood of their Red 
foes — what then ? Still, it was hard lines for the 
In-dians. Who can blame them for their rage when 
they saw the white men spread out from end to end 
of their land, and change the sweet wild face of 
earth so that they did not know it. Back; back, 
step by step, the white man drove them from their 
own dear woods and plains, hills and vales. It 
makes me sad to write of it. But God meant that 
man should make the best use of His rich mft of 
earth, and he who works to that end must win. So 
the white man won. 

The white man who did not make wise use of his 
skill and chance in those days met the fate of the 



The Colonists. 



Red, as you will see. Mack-ev, who came with 
Lew-is, spent his time in play, and left not a trace 
of his works on the page of time ; while Bur-den 
and Lew-is live in those who to this day bless them 
for the homes he made for their use. 

One of the nice tales told of an I-rish man and 
his wife, who came 
to work on the farm 
of a Ger-man man 
by the name of 
Strode, I must tell 
right here. The 
I-rish were not long 
here when a son 
was born to them. 
It was such a nice, 
good babe that the 
S trades got to love 
it as if it was their 
own. When the 
child was some 
months old its pa 
and ma heard that they could do well in North Car- 
o-h-na, and so made up their minds to go there. 
The Strodes were in great grief to part with the 
babe, but the I-rish, of course, would not part with 
their wee boy. When at last the}' set out, a child of 




A HOME IN EAST-ERN VIR-GIN-IA BE-FORE THE WAR. 



74 



I Yrjrmz'a. 



the Strodes ran as fast as it could on the heels of 
the wife who had the babe in her arms. \\ hen 
they got in the woods far from the farm, the babe 
was laid down, and the man and wife made a stop 
to rest. The place was by a large tree, where in the 

shade the man and 
wife made halt to take 
a short noon-day nap. 
The Strode child hid 
back of a tree till she 
thought it safe to 
pounce on her pet. 

All was still. The 
babe slept. The 
tired big folks were in 
the land of nod too. 
Quick as wink the 
Strode rogue made a 
grab for the babe and 
ran like a deer, face 
to the farm. But its 

THE STRODE ROGUE. m a W £ g q U i t C 3, S 

quick, you may guess, and soon had her boy safe on 
her breast. If she rave the small thief of sweet 
babes a box on the ear we could not blame her. 
She may not have, for it must have done her heart 
good to see the love they bore her boy. 





MR. JACK-SON BRINGS AN-DREW HOME 



7 6 



man, 




got 



li 



to 
n a. 



grew 



of -Old 
-b u t his 
was like a 



North Car- 
The boy 
to be a fine 
man, so true to what 
he thought was fair 
and right, that no one 
could turn him from 
his way, and at last 
his friends gave him 
the n a m e 
Hick-o-ry,'- 
foes said he 
mule. 

This was Gen-er- 
al An-drew Jack-son, 
sev-enth Pres-i-dent of 



our land. 

An old Vir-gin-ia 

dame tells me, that the 
Strodes kept the babe till the Jack-sons found a place 
to suit them in North Car-o-li-na, when Mr. Jack- 
son came and took An-drew home. But the facts 
are as I have told you. Mrs. Jack-son kept the 
to-be Pres-i-dent of. the U-ni-ted States with her, 
and the Strodes saw him no more. 



j^S^^u^^^ K ^==^i^^^^ z ^^ 



The Revolutionists. 77 

ART SECOND. 

The Revolutionists. 



CHAPTER I. 



You must now make use of those good eyes in 
your mind. You will see how homes were built on 
new grants of land, and how towns were In id out, 
and plans for ci-ties made the face of Vir-gin-ia soil 
take on the lines of time, that tell of man's thoughts 
and works. 

Streets, squares, and long roads now run from 
town to town. Fields give out their wealth of food 
for man and beast. The House of God and the 
schools spring up with the growth of each coun-ty. 
But while the land thrives, the men had to be on 
their guard all the time, to keep their scalps safe on 
their heads. The Red men were not quick to yield 
all this to the whites. Fierce wars were made from 
time to time, and when at last the whites, by strength 
of arms and skill, had the foe at bay, a new time of 
care rose like a threat in their face. 

The Ca-na-di-an French had their eyes on the 



yS Virginia. 

fine lands of the Brit-ish col-o-nists for a long while. 
They gave the men in New York a big scare in 
1692, but had their plans for their pains at that time. 
Since then they had built forts and crept so close, 
with their hopes to crowd the Brit-ish col-o-nists and 
rob them of their In-dian trade, that the Gov-er-nor 
thought it time to put a stop to their tricks. 

The French had made friends of the Red men, 
who were elad of this chance to strike at the whites 
of Vir-gin-ia with the help of this white foe. 

But the Vir-gin-ians had been hard at work in 
field and wood, and while the men grew such fine 
crops of to-bac-co and grain, and did their best to 
raise stock and train young colts, the brave wives in 
the house had their hands and hearts full of care, 
with the fine crop of boys and girls. 

These young folks were born on Vir-gin-ia soil, 
and drank in with the sweet air a true, strong love 
for the land of their birth. 

The first one of this grand crop of boys we have 
to deal with is George Wash-ing-ton. 

We are come to the year 1753, and Gov-er-nor 
Din-wid-die is the head man at the time. 

Wash-ing-ton is just twen-ty-one years old. His 
soul is full of pluck and flame ; his mind high and 
pure. His ma had taught him how a boy ought to 
act, so that when he got to be a man he would not 



The Revolutionists, 



79 



have to blush for the mean things the boy had clone. 
In that way he kept the page of his young life so 

clean, that 
w h e n m e n 
came to write 
on it the deeds 
of his man- 
hood, there 
was not one 
spot that they 
felt a wish to 
blot out. 

I do not 
doubt but that 
he was just as 
full of pranks 
and f u n a s 
,boys can be, 
a n d y e t be 
od. 
George Wash- 
was at the time of the 
war with the French Ca-na- 
di-ans, he was the one man 
who knew the land and woods 
well. He had gone up the Blue Ridge on foot to 
sur-vey the lands for Lord Fair-fax, who had been 




WEAV-ING. 



So f T irginia. 

his friend since George was six-teen years old. The 




NAT-UR-AT. BRTDGE, TWO HUNDRED AND FIF-TEEX FEET HIGH. 

Gov-er-nor heard that he knew how to deal with the 



The Revolutionists. 81 

Red men, as well as find his way through vales, 
hills, and woods, and that he could trust him to take 
such word as Din-wid-die must send to the French 
Com-man-dant de St. Pi-erre, who was near Lake 
E-rie, six hun-dred miles from Wil-liams-burg. 
Through wild lands, in the midst of Red and white 
foes, the youth and six or sev-en men went to tell the 
French chief that he must leave the soil on the 
O-hi-o ; that it was Brit-ish claim, and the French 
must go at once, or there would be an end of peace. 

St. Pi-erre said he would not budge for the 
Crown of En^-land or Gov-er-nor of Vir-gin-ia. So 
George and his men had this word to brine back. 
But to get back was sore work. It was late in No 
vem-ber. Frost, ice, rough winds, and strange paths 
to make their way through till each man found the 
horse he had left in the woods, was a task to try the 
best of pluck. 

Wash-ing-ton found the poor brutes so weak from 
want of feed that he and one of his men led them as 
long as they could, then had to leave them, and 
make their way on foot. They slept on the earth at 
night, and shot game for their food. They had 
to ford the streams ; and once they made a raft of 
logs on which to cross a deep stream, but it broke 
and threw them in the midst of great floats of ice. 
Wash-in ir-ton and one man £ot back safe to Wil- 



82 



Virginia. 



liams-burg. The rest had lost their lives on the 
way. This trip took six-teen weeks. 







A BOK-DEK FORT, 



Wash-ing-ton told the Gov-er-nor of the best 
place to build forts for the war that' the Vir-gin-ians 



The Revolutionists. 83 

saw was at hand to keep out the French from Brit- 
ish land. The fame of one of these for-ti-fi-ca-tions 
on the Mo-non-ga-he-la and Al-le-gha-ny has come 
down to our time. 

Wash-ing-ton was now made Lieu-ten-ant Col-o- 
nel of a reg-i-ment of Vir-gin-ians with Col-o-nel Fry 
as Chief. They went to the forks of the O-hi-o, and 
built those forts I have just told of. 




"WASH-ING-TON'S OF-FICE AND LODG-INGS AT " SOL-DIER'S REST," IX CLARKE COUN-TV, 

VIR-GIN-IA. 

Thus the war was at hand, and the Vir-gin-ians 
took up arms for Great Bri-tain. 

It was a grand school of rights for George Wash- 
ing-ton. In it he was taught how to stand brave 
when the hour came for them to fight for their birth- 
rights. 



8 4 



Virginia. 



The first time they met the French at arms the 
foe won the day. The col-o-nists did not have such 
good arms, nor had they all the am-mu-ni-tion they 
were in need of, to keep back the French who had 
the Red man's help. 




BAT-TLE OF GREAT MEAD-OWS. 



This first fight in which Wash-ing-ton had a 
hand is known as the fight of Great Mead-ows. 

How mad the folks in Eng-land were when they 
heard that the French had beat them! In great 



The Revolutionists. 85 

haste they sent some of their best men at arms, with 
Gen-er-al Ed-ward Brad-dock at their head, to drive 
all the French from the whole land. When Brad- 
dock got here with his fine men and arms, he held 
his head quite high. 

" Puh !" said he, "you poor, green, back-woods 
men do not know how to whip a foe; I'll soon have 
the land clear of them !" 

There was a call on all the Gov-er-nors to meet 
him at Al-ex-an-dri-a, on the Po-to-mac, where they 
made plans of war to drive out all those who did not 
hold their land as Brit-ish claims. 

But Brad-dock thought he knew more of the 
roads and means of war-fare than all those who were 
born here. He would have his way, and his troops 
must take the front ranks, and march on the foe with 
such loads of stores and traps that they got stuck in 
the mud lots of times. 

The Gen-er-al and his aids rode in a coach at 
the head of his men, as if they were just on a dress 
march in great style. It is said the foe stood on the 
heights, and when they saw them come on through 
mud and mire, were so full of fun at this court show- 
on the way to the war, that they made of the scene a 
great joke. 

Wash-ing-ton had got such a snub from the 
Gen-er-al, who had told him that he did not want to 



86 Virginia. 



hear what so ''raw" a youth had to say on themes of 
war, that George went home to Mount Ver-non. 

Brad-dock thought the fierce Red men and the 
French would run and hide as soon as Brad-dock 
and the King's troops came in sight ; so he set some 
of his own men in com-mand of the troops led by 
Wash-ing-ton. But the proud Eng-lish Gen-er-al 
soon found that he stood in sore need of the young; 
Vir-gin-ian, and was glad to ask him to join him, 
which Wash-ing-ton did ; but still the Gen-er-al 
would not hear how it might be best to fight in 
this land, and went on as if he were at war in 
Eng-land. His faith in the skill of the men he 
had brought made him look down on all "raw 
troops." 

The end was sad for Brad-dock. He was brave 
and knew no fear, with all his pride. When it 
came to face the foe, he found the "raw troops" the 
best of the two. The fine red-coats did not know 
how to stand such a fight as the French with the aid 
of wild Red men made on them, and they fled like 
sheep at last, when poor Brad-dock fell with a death 
ball in his breast. It was one of these "raw troops," 
Cap-tain Stew-art, of the Vir-gin-ia Light Horse, 
who caught him in his arms as he fell. 

"Leave me on the field to die. Go, leave me ! 
Oh, who would have thought it ! Who would 



The Revolutionists 



87 



have thought it ! But we shall know how to fight 
them next time !" he said. 

His aids, the few that were left, and the Vir-gin- 
ians stood by him. His ar-my had run from the 
foe, or were slain and dead on the field. 

With his last breath Brad-dock, like the brave 
heart that he was, said: "You Vir-gin-ians are true 
men ; you are brave men ; I did not know you — but 
we shall know next time — next time !" 




RU-INS OF TRIN-I-TY CHURCH. DATE OF E-REC-TION NOT KNOWN. 

"Next time" did not come for him. He felt so 
bad for the way he had thought of Wash-ing-ton, 
that he gave him his horse and his man Bish-op to 
serve him. 

One month from the time the proud Brad-dock 
went hence to beat the foe, he was laid to rest in a 
grave near Fort Ne-ces-si-tv, and Wash-ing-ton and 
the few friends lett stood with bent heads and sent 



88 Virginia. 

up some words that God would bless the soul of him 
who slept there. This was in Ju-ly, 1755. 




THE WAR DANCE. 



The hard times that now came to the Vir-gin- 
ians make the blood boil and the heart ache. The 



The Revolutionists. 89 

In-dians with a thirst for blood went from place to 
place, and set the white man's home in flames. The 
wives and babes were put to death with clubs. The 
men were tied to stakes while blood ran in streams 
from scalp wounds on their heads. Then the torch 
was put to the stake, and a wild war dance took 
place. 

Are you not glad such times are past, and we 
can live in peace and joy safe from such fierce foes ? 
There are stones in Vir-gin-ia to this day that mark 
the brave deeds done on the spot, and old forts 
loom up to tell of the work done for Brit-ain in those 
days. 

It is not strange, then, that those who gave so 
much for the old land, should feel a sense of rage at 
the thanks they got ? Their laws were made to bear 
on them like chains, to keep them down, and more 
tax put on their needs to keep them poor. 

It was not till 1763 that peace was made by 
the Brit-ish and French. The last act of the war 
brought George Wash-ing-ton and the Vir-gin-ia 
troops to plant the flag of Eng-land on what was left 
of the once French strong-hold, Fort Du-quesne. 



90 / irgniia. 



CHAPTER II. 

The French-In-dian war had cost Engf-land a 
great deal. The cash box of the King was in need 
of funds. Eng-land sent word to the Col-o-nies, 
and, for fear the old land would tax the new more 
than it could stand at this time, a fine purse was 
made up and sent to the King. The Col-o-nies 
paid some tax in their mode of trade with old lands, 
and paid for their mail. Since the time of Gov- 
er-nor Spots-wood, the new land had its own post 
ser-vice (i 736). 

So they did not wish Eng-land to lay on them 
more tax. But the purse they sent did not help 
them. Eng-land must have more than her share of 
their wealth. So she made a lot of stamps that the 
col-o-nists had to buy from her and put on all their 
things in trade. 

This was not fair, and the col-o-nists were mad, 
you may think. 

Vir-gin-ia spunk was at once up in arms. She 
did not wait for the rest of the Col-o-nies to say 
what they would do, and then like good meek souls 
do as the rest did. 



The Revolutionists. 91 

She had at no time in her young and weak days 
let Eng-land do her work for her, or, with a sweet 
bow, let the old land make her laws. So now she 
stood up with her fist in the face of the king, and 
said : " You shall not tax us so !" 

It was at this time that a bold and bright Vir- 
gin-ian, Pat-rick Hen-ry by name, spoke the first 
words that set fire to the grand torch of Rev-o- 

LU-TION. 

Pat-rick was one of nine boys and girls. His 
folks were not rich, and at ten years of age, when he 
knew how to read and write, his pa took him from 
school to teach him Lat-in at home. Mr. Hen-ry 
taught school in his own house, and he thought he 
could make Pat-rick stick to his books if he kept his 
eye on him. 

But Pat-rick was more fond of field sports than 
his book. He at times went far from home with his 
gun and fish rod, when he would set his bait, or 
stand his gun by a tree, and then lie on the ground, 
and in such cool, still spot, stay and think for hours 
at a time. 

The needs of the Hen-ry folks with such a lot of 
mouths to feed, at last made his pa send Pat-rick to 
serve as clerk in a store. When the youth knew 
how to sell goods, he and his bro-ther Wil-liam set 
up shop. But Will did not like work, and Pat-rick 










/. 



-■* .1 jig?, — - 



/ 



/-> 



N 










,f ;; &i 



92 



there's a bite!' 



The Revolutionists. 



95 



was so good at heart that he let folks come and buy, 
and say they would pay next week. But next week 
they got more stores at the same price. In that 
way Pat-rick made more debts than cash. How- 
could he pay his bills when folks did not pay theirs ? 

So that came to an end, and Pat-rick had time 
to think, read, play the flute and vi-o-lin that he was 
so fond of. 

At eigh-teen years of age he fell in love with a 
Miss Shel-ton and they were wed. 

The next thing he did was to try to run a farm. 
That he had to give up in two years. Then he 
once more bought a store, and lost all his iunds by it. 

Then he read law. That was to his taste. But 
folks did not think he would come to great fame at 
the bar, and it was years till he got a chance to show 
the stuff that was in him. He was twen-ty-sev-en 
years old when he plead his first great case. It was 
in a cause on the side of the peo-ple that he spoke. 
When it was time for him to speak he got up slow 
and shy. His tongue would not leave the roof of his 
mouth. The folks on one side were in great glee, 
and those for whom he was to plead thought their 
cause quite done for and lost. 

It was not long so. The laugh went from some, 
and some hearts beat quick and proud, as words 
of fire and soul fell from the tongue now set free. 



94 



Virginia. 



Fear took hold on those who thought they had 
things all their own way with so shy a man to deal 
with. Mr. Hen-ry, who was in the court room, did 
not know his son in this grand man with a tongue of 
flame, and he wept at last with the joy and pride in 
his heart for the dear gift of such a boy. 

Of course he won his cause. Such a time as 
there, was ! Folks could not keep still. They rang 




HAN-O-VER COURT HOUSE, IN WHICH PAT-RICK HEN-RY MADE HIS FIRST GREAT 

SPEECH. 

out his name as if they were mad. They would not 
let him hide from their sight, and took him high up 
on their arms, and thus with glad shouts brought 
him through the town.. So Pat-rick Hen-ry's fame 
spread, and he got to be one of the men who made 
laws and did the will of those who sent him to 
speak for them. 



The Revolutionists. 



95 



The col-o-nists did not know just what to do 
when this new tax was put on them. The stamps 
were on their way, and they had no time to lose. 
The men at once met at Wil-liams-burg, and here 
Pat-rick Hen-ry made such a speech that not a man 
who heard him felt less grand than a king in his 
own right to be free of all tax laid on him by the 
King's men and the throne. 

There were a few who did not like that sort of 
talk, to be sure. They were bred 
with no thoughts but for the good 
of thrones, though they did not 
wish the King's hand to bend 
them too low. These men would 
have made Hen-ry stop, but the ^f| 
heart of the mass was with him, / 
and in their minds, as he .went on, 
was born the first thoughts of Lib- 
er-ty, though it had to wait and 
grow strong; like a seed it took root, and soon got 
to be a tree, from which the men of the next few 
years got the pluck to stand up and fight the King. 

Eng-land saw that it would not be best to press 
this "Stamp Act.'' When Hen-ry's brave words 
got to some of the col-o-nies — for all had to pay the 
new tax — they were glad, and said they would stand 
by the Vir-gin-ians come what might. So, as one 




PAT-RICK HEX-RY. 



9 6 Virginia. 

man, the States were strong, and the King had to 
give up the stamp tax. 

If the King had said to them, "I am in sore 
need ; will you help me in some way ?" the Vir-gin- 
ians would have been the first to help the Old Land 
in a way of their own. They did not wish to have 
him force them to pay what he saw fit. 

You can-not drive or force brave men. If a 
friend says to you, " I need your aid," how quick 
your hand will go out to him, will it not ? But if he 
comes to you with a proud face and says, " Here, I 
want your help, and I shall take it !" your heart will 
boil with rage, and you won't help him if you can 
get out of it. That is just the way the col-o-nists 
felt. To serve them so once made them lose faith 
in the kind heart of the rude friend. 

Vir-gin-ia was so glad to be free of the stamp tax 
that she sent the King a vote of thanks. But their 
joy did not last. A new way to wring gold from 
the col-o-nists was found. They were made to pay 
a tax on the goods most in use that were sent 
them from Eng-land ; such as glass, tea, and pa-per. 
Then once more Vir-gin-ia sent her views of such 
mean ways to the King. The Gov-er-nor at this 
time sent from Eng-land was a true friend to the 
Col-o-ny. The Vir-gin-ians were proud of him, for 
he made the best oi terms with the King for them, 



The Revolutionists. 97 

and through him they were tokl they should not be 
made to pay this tax. This was Lord 'Bot-te-tourt, 
who died in i 771. 

In the mean-time, there was much done by the 
Old Land to vex and fret the col-o-nists ; this made 
the Vir-gin-ians be on their guard. 

The new Gov-er-nor, Lord Dun-more, did not 
come for a long while to take the chair as the head 
of Vir-gin-ia, but stayed in New York with a lot of 
King's men to have a fine time, and sent a clerk in 
his stead, who was told to draw his fees and pay 
from the men of the Col-o-ny, just as if Lord Dun- 
more had a right to put his hand in their spare box 
and take their cash to pay such folks as he saw fit to 
send to them. 

Such things did not suit the Vir-gin-ians. They 
did their share for court and King and Gov-er-nor. 
If they now took care of a lot of clerks, what would 
be left for their own kin ? 

They told the Gov-er-nor to pay his own clerk. 
They met in Coun-cil, and some of the wise men of 
it were told to ask all the States to meet, and plan a 
way to keep their rights free from the harm Eng- 
land would do them if they did not stand firm as 
one mind. 

The men who had this task to do, were men 
whose names live to this day bright in all our hearts. 



98 Virginia. 

Their names are : Pay-ton Ran-dolph, Rob-ert 
Car-ter Nich-o-las, Rich-ard Bland, Rich-ard Hen-ry 
Lee, Ben-ja-min Har-ri-son, Ed-mond Pen-die-ton, 
Pat-rick Hen-ry, Dud-ley Digges, Del>ney Carr, 
Arch-i-bald Ca-ry, and Thom-as Jef-fer-son. 

When the Gov-er-nor heard what they were to 
do, he would not let them meet and plan more such 
work. But they did not care. They went right on 
with their plan, and the Col-o-ny in this part of the 
land made friends with the rest, and in this way the 
time soon came when hand in hand the thir-teen 
prov-in-ces stood up to brave the King and such 
laws as would rob them of the rights of free men. 

You can think this kind of pluck gave the King 
and his men in the Old Land a good scare. Still, 
they did not dream that the wrath of a few men 
would set the whole young world up in arms. 
Some of the men who made the King's laws thought 
it best to go slow for a while, and let the New 
World's rage cool ; but the proud head man in 
Eng-land, Lord North, said : 

"We must first bring A-mer-i-ca to the dust at 
our feet ; then we will hear what they have to say, 
and if the folks are meek and good, we may grant 
what they pray for." 

It is said the grand lord then shut his eyes and 
had a nice nap. 



The Revolutionists. 99 

But the col-o-nists did not have to pay the Eng- 
lish tax, all the same, on all the goods. Tea was 
still to be paid for, though, just to show the col-o- 
nists that they should not have their way. 

A ship-load of tea came to Bos-ton at this time, 
and the grand souls of the col-o-nists there thought 
they would give the King a dose of A-mer-i-can 
pluck that would show him he must not play with 
them. So they threw the whole ship-load of tea to 
the fish in the sea. 

Ah, what a rage there was at court, when the 
news got to Eng-land. " Close the port ! Let not 
one ship land in Bos-ton. Those hot heads there 
will soon cry ' I will do so no more ! I will be 
good !' " said Eng-land. 

They did not know the kind of brave men they 
had to deal with. 

When Vir-gin-ia heard of this rash act, what a 
time of joy there was in the hearts of true men, and 
how quick they were to show their sense of wrong 
when Bos-ton port was shut to trade. 

But what was done, do you think, then, by the 
rest of the col-o-nies ? 

Why, not one brave dame would buy a pound of 
tea of Eng-land nor brew it for home use. A day 
to fast and pray was set. Men met in church to 
ask God to help them in their hope for home rights. 



IOO 



Virginia. 



But to pray and act at the same time was the 
way of these men in Vir-gin-ia. 

On May 27, 1774, they met to call a Con-gress 
of all the Col-o-nies. 

Con-gress means a place where men may meet 
to make laws, or to talk of, or plan rules for, the good 
of the whole land. They did not ask leave of the 
Gov-er-nor to meet in this way, so Eng-land knew 
there was bound to be strife, and thought it time to 

get a stick made, 
to whip that bad 
child, A-mer-i-ca. 

But that child 
was bent with grief. 
In robes of black it 
set to work to toll 
bells, for faith lost 
in old ma Eng- 
land. 

While Lord Dun-more, the King's Gov-er-nor, 
gave balls, and his wife held court in great state, the 
Vir-gin-ians sent food and cash to the folks in Bos- 
ton, so that they would not come to need while 
Eng-land held the town in her hard grasp and 
would not let trade ships land there. 

Then came the day for all the Col-o-nies to meet 
'on the 5th of Sep-tem-ber, 1774, and North and 




AN OLD-TIME COURT-HOUSE. 



The Revolutionists. 



101 



South met in a hand-clasp as stanch friends. This 
was the first A-mer-i-can Con-gress held in Phil-a- 
del-phi-a. The Vir-gin-ians sent to it Pey-ton Ran- 
dolph, Rich-ard Hen-ry Lee, George Wash-ing-ton, 
Pat-rick Hen-ry, Rich-ard Bland, Ben-ja-min Har- 
ri-son, and Ed-mond Pen-die-ton. 

How sad, yet stern, these men must have felt; 
and still what a thrill of joy was in their hearts when 




RED HILL, THE HOME OF PAT-RICK HEN-RY, CHAR-LOTTE COUN-TY, VIR-GIN-IA. 

Pat-rick Hen-ry rose in the hall where they met and 
said : 

"This day the line is down that has so far made 
us Vir-gin-ians, New En^-land-ers or New York-ers 
or Penn-syl-van-ians. I am not a Vir-gin-ian, but 
a7i A-mer-i-can /" 

Then they drew plans of rights. They wrote 
such calm, just words to Eng-land that those in the 
old land could not help but see they had right on 



102 Virginia. 

their side. But the King and King's men were 
wroth that they would dare to meet and talk as free 
men. 

They must have been yet more wroth when they 
heard that Wash-ing-ton said he would raise a band 
of a thou-sand men, clothe and feed them, and at 
their head march on to help the men of Bos-ton. 



CHAPTER III. 

Vir-gin-ia had her hands full in these times. 
The Red men were at war, and none in the bor-der 
of the State were safe. The bad Lord Dun-more is 
said to have set the In-dians on to do the white men 
harm, so that they would have no time to heed what 
Eng-land was up to just then ; and this did not make 
the Vir-gin-ians love him, or the way the King let 
their Gov-er-nor serve them. 

But Gen-er-al Lew-is put the In-dians to rout 
with great loss of life to his own men, while Lord 
Dun-more and the King's men were in the town 
near by and did not come to their aid. 

So the Vir-gin-ians had still more cause to hate 
him. 



The Revolutionists. 



103 



The next wrong done them was to take all their 
stores of war and gun-pow-der from the place where 
they were kept and put them on a Brit-ish war ship 
near York-town, just at a time when they were in 
need of the stores to keep down some of the slaves 
who had been put up to kill the whites. 

The whole town flew to arms at this, 
and the Gov-er-nor was told to give them 
back their guns and stores. 

In great fright he then 
swore he would free all the 
slaves and set them on to 
kill the folks and burn the 




THE KING'S MEN ROW OFF WITH THE STORES. 



town, if they did not at once go to their homes in 
peace. 

Go home in peace, now ! Oh, no. The whole 



io4 



Virginia. 



of Vir-gin-ia rose in the might of its rage at such 
threats. 




THE CALL TO ARMS ! 



The men of Wil-liams-burg met and made a 
pledge to stand by their rights with peace if they 
could — but by force of arms if must be. Bands of 



The Revolutionists. 105 

men came from all parts of Vir-gin-ia, and on their 
flags were these words — God Save the Lib-er-ties of 
A-mer-i-ca ! 

Pat-rick Hen-ry was the chief of these men. He 
sent to all towns for help. It is told of some troops 
who came to his call that one hun-dred and fif-ty 
men from Cul-pep-er, one hun-dred from Or-ange, 
and one hun-dred from Fau-quier coun-ties, made a 
camp by an old oak tree in a field in Cul-pep-er 
Coun-ty. Their head men were Law-rence Ta-li-a- 
fe-ro of Or-ange, Ed-ward Ste-vens of Cul-pep-er, 
and Ma-jor Mar-shall, whose son got to be Chief 
Jus-tice of the Su-preme Court of A-mer-i-ca. 

They wore dark green shirts, on the front of 
which, in big white, words, was — Liberty or Death ! 

They wore in their hats buck tails. In their 
belts they put great knives and tom-a-hawks. On 
their flag was a snake in a coil and the words — The 
Cul-pep-er Min-tite Men. — Lib-er-ty or Death! — 
Doiit Tread on Me! 

With war whoops they came on through the 

town like Red men on the war path. And woe to 

the Brit-ish who were their foes. These were the 

first min-ute men of Vir-gin-ia. 

ill ' 

Lord Dun-more gave the blame for all the war- 
like fuss to Pat-rick Hen-ry and gave out word that 
he and his men were such a bad set that no one 



xuo 



Virginia. 



should talk with them or be seen with them. Much 
good that did ! 

Pat-rick Hen-ry went to the place where the 
Vir-gin-ians met, in old St. John's Church, and made 
more fuss. "If we wish to be free, we must fight! 
The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring 
to our ears the clash of arms ! I know not what 
course the rest will take — but as for me — give me 

Lib-er-ty or give me 
death !" So spoke the 
brave Hen-rv. 

The next thing was 
" to arms — to arms — the 
^Mt^Mp^i war is on us. Let it 
come ! 

On the 23d of 
March, Hen-ry's great 
speech was made ; on 
the 1 8th of A-pril the 
Brit-ish clash of arms 
was heard at Bos-ton on their march to Con-cord to 
take the war stores, where, at Lex-ing-ton, they met 
the min-ute men and had the first fight. 

They had heard the brave ring of Pat-rick Hen- 
ry's voice from Vir-mn-ia through all the States, and 
with the sound the old and the new worlds stood at 
sword's point. 







THE MIN-UTE MEN FIRE ON THE BRIT-ISH. 



The Revolutionists. 107 

Things had been made so warm for Lord Dun- 
more that he was glad to take a last chance to run 
from Wil-liams-burg, and live on board of the King's 
ship " Fow-ey," at York-town. 

This left the Vir-inn-ians free to choose their 
own chief. A lot of wise men were .made a band of 
head men, to see that all the folks were safe. These 
men made Ed-mond Pen-die-ton their pres-i-dent. 
He had the ri^ht to make rules, and held the funds 
of the men on the eve of war. 

This band of men with Ed-mond Pen-die-ton as 
their chief, were George Ma-son, John Page, Rich- 
ard Bland, Thom-as Lud-well Lee, Paul Car-ring- 
ton, Dud-ley Digges, Wil-liam Ca-bell, Car-ter 
Brax-ton, James Mer-cer, and John Tabb. The 
name the band was known by was "The Com-mit-tee 
of Safe-ty." So you see the A-mer-i-cans knew how 
to take care of the land and folks right well, in this 
dark hour, when the Gov-ern-or sent by the King 
did all he could to do them harm. He tried to coax 
the slaves to fight the white men. He told them 
they should be free and rich if they would take up 
arms for the King. 

He thought that the King would soon send great 
guns and troops, and then he would blow the Vir- 
gin-ians from his path, and get back to his fine house 
in grand style, and be the lord of Vir-gin-ia once 




io8 



THE WASH-ING-TON ELM. 



TJic Revolutionists. 109 

more. But that did not come to pass. He made a 
bold fight, but in the end was glad to run from 
A-mer-i-can spunk and hie him to Eng-land. In 
the mean time George Wash-ing-ton left Vir-mn-ia, 
to join the troops at Bos-ton. With glad shouts 
did the folks there greet him. 

On the 3d of Ju-ly, 1775, in the shade of a fine 
elm tree at Cam-bridge, the great Vir-gin-ian was 
made chief of all the A-mer-i-can troops. 

That old elm is the pride of those Mass-a-chu- 
setts folks to this day. It is such a great big grand 
old tree ! There are two or three spots on the stem 
where time has rent seams in the bark, but these 
have had sheets of cop-per put on them to keep the 
sap in the wood. A tall pick-et fence of i-ron keeps 
folks from thefts of bits of the bark or the tree would 
have been dead long since. 

It was still in full leaf this spring, as if in the 
prime of its life, though it is more than one hun-dred 
and thir-teen years since those brave men stood in 
the shade it then gave them. 

How grave must have been the face of each man. 
What fair hopes, aye, what dread fears as well, must 
have made pulse throb and heart thrill, as with a 
firm grasp of each sword, they swore to be free men., 
and make this land a land of the free ! 



1 10 Virginia. 



CHAPTER IV. 

With Lord Dun-more fled from the chair of 
state, the men at once made Pat-rick Hen-ry chief 
of Vir-gin-ia troops. The first clash of arms with 
the Brit-ish took place at Great Bridge on De-cem- 
ber 9th, 1775. 

There the bold band with the rat-tle-snake flag 
made things prance to the tune of " Lib-er-ty or 
Death," I can tell you. One of the young men was 
John Mar-shall whose fame comes down to us. A 
tale is told of him when he was old, that will please 
you, I am sure. 

He was so plain in his dress and plain in his 
way of life, that folks who did not know him, took 
him for some poor man. One time he went to mar- 
ket. He did not take a slave with him to bear 
the things he bought. With hands full of greens and 
game, he went by a spruce youth who was strange 
in the town. I guess he must have been one of 
those things we call "dudes" in our time. He was 
full of wrath and swore hard to think there was no 
one at hand to take a tur-key he had bought to his 
house for him. 



The Revolutionists. 



in 



Chief Jus-tice Mar-shall made a halt. 

The youth saw him and cried : ''Say, old man, 
can you cart this tur-key home for me?" 

"I can, yes. But which way do you go?" said 
Mar-shall, grave as a judge. 

He was told. 

" That's my way, too. I will take it for you." 

"What do I owe you?" said the youth, when 
they got to his door. 

" Not a cent. It was on my way." 

"Who is that queer old coon?" he said to some 
one near. When told, he ran to make up for his 
ill-bred and rude act. 

"Why did you stoop to serve me?" said he to 
the judge. 

"To teach you how to do your own work. It 
did not hurt me — it would not have hurt you." 

I guess that young man did not scorn to do from 
that time on what a man of brains and rank as high 
as Judge Mar-shall would do. 

I have seen folks just as "proud" as this youth, 
and yet they had not done one bright or good thing 
to be proud of in all their lives. So I think they 
must have been weak in their minds as well as 
limbs, and not proud at all. 

The sword play at the foe at this time was not 



what was to come in real hard war-fare for Vir-gin-ia. 







MAR-SH ALL'S PIL-LAR, ON NEW RIV-ER, FA-YETTE COUN-TY, VIR-G1N-IA. 112 



The Revolutionists. 113 

But while the troops kept back the foe, the brave 
Vir-gin-ians cast off the last of England's rule by an 
act that they sent to all the States, which said from 
this time on the u-nit-ed "Col-o-nies are free and 
in-cle-pen-dent States." They put an A-mer-i-can 
flag on the house where laws were made at Wil- 
liams-burg, and read to the troops this grand Dec-la- 
ra-tion of Rights. So Vir-mn-ia was the first to be 
free of a kino's yoke. 

A good and true man by the name of George 
Ma-son wrote these new laws for free men, that is 
known as a Bill of Rights, and a Con-sti-tu-tion. 
This word means a set of rules to guide those who 
are made the heads of gov-ern-ment, as well as the 
men who make the rules. 

These rules said that the Gov-ern-ment of Vir- 
gin-ia should have a House of Del-e-gates and a 
Sen-ate. The " House" means the place where men 
of the State meet. " Del-e-gates" mean the men 
sent to this House by those who have a right to 
vote. 

In those days, men who did not own land did 
not have a right to vote in Vir-gin-ia. You see the 
men who made laws thought if a man had a home 
and land he would wish but just the best of rules for 
the State, and thus send the best of men to the 
House to keep those laws for them. Each couivty 



H4 Virginia. 

should send two men. In this way the folks of each 
coun-ty could have done for their part of the land 
what they thought was best for them. This is how 
the laws of a free land are made up to this day. 
But all men have a voice or vote now. 

Vir-gin-ia then had a plan of State, and at once 
made Pat-rick Hen-ry Gov-er-nor — the head and 
chief of State. 

One of their plans said the head of State should 
not rule but one year at a time. In this way they 
soon found out if he was the right man there. If not, 
they soon put some one else in his place. This rule 
is known 'as a Re-pub-li-can Form of Gov-ern-ment. 

Rich-ard Hen-ry Lee put this plan to the test of 
Con-cress for use of all the States. The men there 
thought and spoke well on it, and at last said the 
form of it was so good that they bade Thom-as 
Jef-fer-son write a plan which we know as the Dec- 
la-ra-tion of In-de-pen-dence. 

On the 4th of Ju-ly, 1776, the men of the New 
U-nit-ed States Con-gress made it the grand plan of 
our land. Our pride and joy in it still makes us 
ring bells and fire off guns. The small boys kick 
up their heels and yell, some for the fun in the air, 
and some for pain of burns they get when they blow 
up toy bombs to keep fresh in our hearts the deeds 
of 1776, in which Vir-gin-ia had so great a share. 



The Revolutionists. 1 1 5 

We are now come to a time when two great 
Vir-gin-ians stand out in the front ranks of A-mer- 
i-can life. Wash-ing-ton in the war, Jef-fer-son at 
home. Up to the year i jj6 the Church of Eng-land 
was the church of State. And the old Eng-lish law 
that the first-born son must be a man's heir and 
have all the wealth of the house had been the law in 
Vir-gin-ia. 

Jef-fer-son said this was not right in a free land. 
The State should not say what was the best way to 
praise God, or force a man to give all he had to one 
child and rob the rest, if he had more. There was 
a long strife of words in 
the House, but in the 
end Jef-fer-son and his 
friends got the laws 
made so that those who did not go to the Church of 
Eng-land house to pray, did not have to pay to 
keep it up, as they had been made to do, though 
they went to a church of their own faith. 

So, too, with a man's wealth. He could leave it 
to whom he saw fit by this set of laws. 

Of course the rich and high-born did not like it. 
It made a road for all men to walk in it as they 
would. It broke down the fence the rich man had 
set to keep out the poor, for it made one law for 
high and low. 




1 1 6 Virginia. 

At the same time that such a change in the laws 
of the State was made, the Vir-gin-ians sent help to 
the seat of war. They made the Bnt-ish trades-men 
in the towns take an oath not to help the foe, or 
they must leave the place. Troops of brave Vir-gin- 
ians went with sword and gun to where the strife 
of blood was hot. 

It is told of Wash -i no-, ton that when a band of 
men with " Lib-er-ty or Death" shirts on came to 
join his force near Bos-ton, their chief, Mor-gan, 
said to him as he rode by the lines: "We're from 
the right bank of the Po-to-mac, Gen-er-al !" 

This gave Wash-ing-ton such joy that with tears 
in his eyes he got off his horse and shook each man 
in the ranks by the hand. They were come to fight 
or die with him, and he knew it. 

The foe had heard of these brave, rash men. 
They got their fame in the time of Vir-gin-ia's first 
strife with Lord Dun-more's men. The Eng-lish 
spies saw them come down the banks to their war 
ships ; and with a howl of fright gave out the word : 
" On guard ! ho, there ! Look out for the shirt-men !'" 
Of such stuff was the youth of Vir-gin-ia made. 



The Revolutionists. 1 1 7 



CHAPTER V. 

t 

While most of the strong men of the State were 
gone to war, the land back in Vir-gin-ia and that 
part on the banks of the O-hi-o she could call her 
own was left free for the bad acts of the Red men 
set on by the foe. A good man, born in Vir-gin-ia, 
but who at this time made his home in Ken-tuck-y, 
thought he would put a stop to this work in quick 
time. He went to Vir-gin-ia, made up a band of 
men with the help of Gov-er-nor Pat-rick Hen-ry, 
set out through the wil-der-ness, and made a dash at 
the foe, who had no thought of such a trick from 
such a source, and took the forts at Kas-kas-ki-a and 
Vin-cennes, caught Gov-er-nor Roche-blave, of the 
Ca-na-di-ans, on the land of Il-li-nois, who had set 
the Red men on to harm the A-mer-i-cans, and put 
him where he could rest and think how mean a soul 
he had. 

At this Col-o-nel Ham-il-ton, the Ca-na-di-an 
Gov-er-nor of De-troit, a man yet more black of 
heart, set out with his men and a lot of wild In-dians 
to take back the forts, and burn all the towns, and 
kill laro-e and small in that whole part of the land. 



n8 



Virginia. 



Did those brave Vir-gin-ians with the bold 
George Rog-ers Clarke at their head, sit down and 
cry, and let them take back the forts ? Oh no, that 
is not Vir-gin-ia style. We must save the land ! 
Up and at it went .they, but one hun-dred and fif-ty 
strong, to drive back ten times their num-ber. They 




WEY-ER S CAVE, AU-GUS-TA COUN-TY. 



went to meet them in the cold, bleak, wet days of 
mid-win-ter, through snow and slush up to their war ;ts 
at times. For five days they had to march in this 
way. Then the place of the foe was in sight. They 
were on them so still that none knew what they were 



The Revolutionists. 119 

up to. The Gov-er-nor did not think they would or 
could come through such a wet and bad road, and 
so did not look for them. He and his men ran to 
their guns, our brave boys were at them just as 
quick. The siege went on for eigh-teen hours; then 
the foe gave up. The Gov-er-nor they sent to \\ ll- 
liams-burg and the forts and stores of the foe were 
held by our Vir-gm-ians. 

It was in 1777 that a brave .deed done by a 
young girl to save Fort Hen-ry and the few troops 
in it from death by a lot of Red men must here be 
told you. 

The fort was laid out by George Rog-ers Clarke 
and two men by the name ot Eb-en-e-zer Zane and 
John Cald-v/ell, who were some of the stanch, bold 
Vir-gin-ians of the time, that gave all they had for 
the sake of the A-mer-i-can cause. The fort was on 
the west bank of the O-hi-o, in Wheel-ing, which 
had, at that time, but a few small cab-ins made of 
logs. There were not more than for-ty folks in the 
town and fort. 

One day a bad man by the name of Si-mon 
Gir-ty, at the head of a band of near five hun-dred 
fierce Red men, came to take the fort and kill all the 
folks in the place. Of course when the whites heard 
that this wild band was to come, they ran to the fort. 
Some of the men were sent to the next town at once 



120 Virginia 



6 



to bring help. But they were shot down by some 
Red men who were hid in the brush-wood to keep 
watch till the rest of the Red fiends got there. 

When the small band in the fort saw them struck 
down they made up their minds that no help could 
reach them. They had but a small store of pow-der 
on hand, so they did not dare waste it on chance 
shots, but with guns at port holes, and brave hearts, 
they had to wait for the whole band of Reds and fire 
on the lot as they came. Brave girls and boys stood 
by the side of their brave moth-ers, who, as fast as a 
charge was out, would load the guns, while the small 
folks kept watch. 

In this way they kept the Red fiends off, and 
lots of them were made to bite the dust to rise no 
more. Such pluck made the vile Si-mon Gir-ty 
fear that he might lose the day. So with a fine 
show of good will and a white flag he sent word 
to the chief of the fort that if he would lay down 
his arms and swear to be a King's man, he and all 
those with him should have their lives as a gift from 
him. 

Col-o-nel Shep-herd sent word back that as long 
as one A-mer-i-can heart beat in the fort, and one 
pair of hands were left to hold a gun, they would 
not give up. 

Hi! how the Red fiends let loose on the fort 



The Revolutionists. 121 

now! But charge for charge they got each time, till 
the Reds at last fell back to hold a pow-wow with 
their Brit-ish chief, Gir-ty. 

This was a good thing for those in the fort. 
There were but twelve men left now, and the pow- 
der was so low that they could not hold out long at 
this rate. 

Eb-en-e-zer Zane's log house was some six-ty 
yards from the fort, and there, "so near and yet so 
far," was a keg of what they stood in such sore need 
of. 

"Who will dare to run the fire of the Red men 
and bring that keg of pow-der ?" 

" I — I — I — and I — " came from the tongues of 
one and all. But there w r ere so few men, that none 
could run so great a risk as the loss of his help in 
the fort. 

At this a young girl, the sis-ter of the Zanes, 
said, firm and bold, " I will go." 

"Oh, no, no!" None would hear of this, you 
may well think. But E-liz-a-beth Zane would have 
her way. 

"If I fall, my loss will not be felt. Not one of 
you can the fort and all these folks in your care 
spare so well," said she. 

It must have been that a Hand those men — 
friends or foes — could not see, led her safe to their 



122 vivcnua. 






log house ; for the foe did not fire on her if they 
saw her. With fleet step she took the keg and ran 
hack safe to the gate of the fort, and her deed gave 
them new heart to hold out for three days more, 
when help came, and the foe were put to flight. 



CHAPTER VI. 

When men make new laws to fit the growth Q f a 
State, there must be strife — for some will deem it 
best to cling to the old. So it was for a time in 
Vir-gin-ia. Thom-as Jef-fer-son was at heart a plain 
man. He thought in a land like ours there should 
be no such thing as ''style." The rich ought to live 
like those who were not rich, and all should dress 
like plain men. 

Out of these views came plans for the whole 
land, or the gov-ern-ment of the land. Church laws 
were to be made by those who went to this or that 
church, and not by the gov-ern-ment. To be sure 
there was hot blood in the House where such a new 
way of things was brought up. So while the whole 
land out of Vir-gin-ia was at swords' point with the 
Bnt-ish, the. men at the helm of State had their 
own war of words — like a school where quite new 



The Revolutionists. 



12 



thoughts were taught to fit men for a new A-mer- 
i-ca, and lead the mind to see a way clear for that 
grand word Re-pub-lic. 

The souls of men were for the new mode of life 
as far as Vir-gin-ia went, for they made Thorn -as 
Jef-fer-son Gov-er-nor. Pat-rick Hen-ry was now so 
old that he could not keep the chair of state. 

This was in 1779. And oh, what sad times 




MON-TI-CEL-LO, THE HOME OF THOM-AS JEF-FER-SON. 

there were ! Men gave their hearts' blood. Wives,, 
girls and boys went half fed, so that they might 
share the scant home stores with the dear ones in 
the fields of war whose clothes were worn to shreds 
and whose feet were bare, for our land had no funds 
with which to pay our men. 

Eng-land's wealth was a strong bait to tempt 



1 24 Virginia. 

men from our side at this time. The snow was 
deep on the ground, and three men had to do with 
one worn blank-et in the cold, bleak night-time. 

Wash-ing-ton had so far thought that France 
would send them help by a loan; but in 1781 the 
aid had not yet come. 

He wrote at this time to Col-o-nel Lau-rens, 
A-mer-i-can Min-is-ter at Par-is, "If help does not 
reach us, we can-not keep our men." 

Strange to say, the foe had not laid his claws on 
Vir-gin-ia to this time. There were no big, strong 
men left in the State to bear arms. Wives and 
girls, old men and boys were there, so the foe would 
have had no great fight to lay claim to the Old Do- 
min-ion. 

It was Ben-e-dict Ar-nold, the trai-tor — (who sold 
his land and friends and whose vile act led to the 
death of the brave foe An-dre) — who made the first 
move to take Vir-gin-ia. 

It was just such a step as one might think a man 
like Ar-nold would take. It was no orand thing- to 
come at the head of nine or ten hun-dred men and 
march on a land where there were none to harm 
him. He knew the whole State was clear, for all 
strong young men had gone to bear arms at the seat 
of war. 

The Gov-er-nor, Jef-fer-son, cast what arms there 




CAP-TURE OF AN-DRE 



126 Virginia. 

were in the James Riv-er, and did all he could to 
keep the spoils from the foe, when he found he had 
not men to fioht with. This made the Enor-lish 
turn their eyes on Vir-gin-ia, and the tide of war was 
brought on there in full force. 

Ar-nold burnt towns and laid lands waste. Then 
in A-pril Gen-er-al Phil-lips, with two thou-sand men 
came up the James Riv-er and on the way to Rich- 
mond did all the harm he could. 

But a stop was put to their work all at once, 
when they did not look for it. 

Help had come. Wash-ing-ton had sent twelve 
hun-dred men, with the good Mar-quis de La-fay- 
ette, then a young man but twen-ty-three years old, 
to take a hand in the sport of the foe in Vir-gin-ia. 
When Gen-er-al Phil-lips saw this band of men, do 
you think he was glad of a chance to fight ? Oh, 
dear no ! He ran with his fine troops, poor man, 
and soon was dead of a fe-ver he had, and was laid 
to rest in old Bland-ford church-yard. 

Then came Lord Corn-wal-lis to Vir-gin-ia with 
ten thou-sand troops. La-fay-ette had but twelve 
hun-dred real men of war, and three thou-sand men 
who were known as mi-li-tia, whose good will was 
the skill they brought and the arms they bore, and 
fif-ty horse men, known as cav-al-ry. 

These few brave souls had to face the grand lot 



Th c Re vol it Hon ists. 



127 



of King's men with fine arms, and the "troops" of 
Col-o-nel Tarle-ton's wild, bad band. 

Lord Corn-wal-lis thought he could whip La-fay- 
ette in no time, and slay his few men at one blow 
with his force. La-fay-ette was but a boy in his eyes 
— a boy who would run from him in a big fright. 

It did seem as if the "boy" had a mind to "run." 
He kept him on the move for more than a month, 







OLD BLAND-FORD CHURCH. 



and Corn-wal-lis could not bring him to a "stand 
and fight." 

In this way the play was kept up. But when 
Corn-wal-lis would have gone to Al-be-marle Old 
Court-house and laid hold on the Vir-gin-ia stores, 
La-fay-ette was quick on his track for a fight. Then 
Corn-wal-lis would not fight, but ran, and La-fay-ette 



128 



Vii 



'Pima. 



went on his track. He had with him now the bold 
and brave Gen-er-al Wayne and his nine hun-dred 
men, and Bar-on Steu-ben with, some troops. 

Lord Corn-wal-lis did not run from fear. It 
was a neat trick to bring the 
A-mer-i-can troops to a point 
where he could turn on them 
at a good time for a charge. 
Our men got the worst of it 
then, but soon were out of the 
foe's clutch. The 



foe now fell back to 
York-town, where 
strong works were 
built to keep back 
our troops and make 
safe breast- works 
from which to fire on 
our men. And here 
the Eng-lish Gen- 
er-al thought to make 
an end of the King's .j- V 
foes with ease. 

Did he dream that an ar-my in rags would whip 
the fine, well-fed Brit-ish, with their smart com-man- 
ders ? I guess not ! 




I'.UILD-ING WORKS. 



The Revolutionists. 129 



CHAPTER VII. 

While Corn-wal-lis was at rest at York-town with 
the hope that a big lot of troops would be sent to aid 
him, a great change had come with new joy to our 
brave men. 

Count de Grasse came from France with a large 
fleet for Ches-a-peake Bay to help the A-mer-i-cans. 
The Count de Ro-cham-beau with a force ol six 
thou-sand men was come to join the fleet oi Count 
de Grasse to hem in Lord Corn-wal-lis. 

How the hearts of our true men must have beat 
with sweet thanks to God for such aid in the hour of 
such need as they were then in. Wash-ing-ton was 
on the Hud-son at this time, and plans were at once 
made to bring the war to one spot — this spot was 
Vir-gin-ia. But the foe must be kept in the dark. 
The foe must be led to think a fight was in view on 
the banks of the Hud-son. 

Camps were laid out and a sham fight made on 
the posts of the foe, to keep the Brit-ish com-man- 
der's eyes on that spot while our whole ar-my went 
on their way to join La-fay-ette and de Grasse. 

By the last of Sep-tem-ber, 1781, the A-mer-i-can 






130 



Virginia. 



troops were all at Wil-liams-burg, Vir-gin-ia. Gen- 
er-al Nel-son, who was made Gov-er-nor when Jef- 
fer-son left the head of State, and Gen-er-al Wayne 
went to head off Corn-wal-lis, in case he should try 
to skip out to North Car-o-li-na. Thus the foe was 
in a ring made by our men and the French friends. 

A fleet of ships with Ad-mi-ral Graves at their 
head came to help Corn-wal-lis. But the brave de 

Grasse went to the mouth of the 
§J|§b^ Ches-a-peake to meet them, and 
® r K|k sent them off in quick time; took 
T^ilP^ two of their war ships, and came 
back to keep his eyes on Corn- 
wal-lis at York-town. 

It is said that the foe sent a lot 
of slaves, sick with the small-pox, 
from their camp in the town to the 
A-mer-i-can lines, so that our troops 
would take it, and be in too bad 
and ill a plight to fight. 

Doc-tor Thatch-er, who was with Gen-er-al \\ ash- 
ing-ton as sur-geon, tells how one night, when shot 
and shell had been sent from camp to camp for 
sev-en days, he had crept out of the rain to a small 
hut where the foe had that day been. The night 
was pitch dark. He thought he could rest there 
quite safe for a while. All at once a step came 




GEN-ER-AL AN-THO-NY 
WAYNE. 



The Revolutionists. i 3 1 

near. Some one came in. The place was so small 
that the two met. Ouick as a flash the man drew 
his sword and made as if to plunge it in the doe-tor's 
breast. 

" Friend, friend !" cried out Doc-tor Thatch-er. 

''Oh, Mon-sieur! friend!" said the man, put his 
sword back, and left the hut as fast as he could. 

''He must have been a French sol-dier," said 
the Doc-tor, "and I don't know who was the most 
scared, he or I." 

While shot and shell fell on all sides Wash-ing- 
ton stood calm, with not one trace of care or fear. 
The chap-lain, the Rev-er-end Mr. Ev-ens, stood by 
him one day and a shot struck the ground so close 
to them that the earth and sand fell like rain on 
their clothes and fac-es, and some flew to the rim of 
their hats. Mr. Ev-ens took his off and said to the 
Gen-er-al : "See here, these are bits of shot and 
shell." 

"Ah, Mr. Ev-ens," said the cool Com-man-der- 
in-Chief, "you must take that home to show to your 
wife." 

On the 1 7th of Oc-to-ber Lord Corn-wal-lis sent 
a flag of truce to ask a stay of arms, so that a word 
might be said as to terms of peace. Twen-ty-four 
hours was the time he would like to make terms in. 
Two hours was all Wash-ing-ton would grant. 



1 \2 



I T irginia. 



How wise of him not to give him more time ; 
for it was found out that Corn-wal-lis had made a 
plan to make use of the stay of war, to leave York- 
town. 

He and his men were to get on board of boats in 
the night, fall on the French at Glou-ces-ter Point, 
steal their steeds, and ride as fast as they could to 
New York. Some of the men did get out on the 
stream in boats, but a great wind and rain storm 
came up, and put a stop to the whole 
fine plan, as the men were glad to get 
back to their camps with their lives 
the next day. 

On the 1 8th Gen-er-al Washing- 
ton sent his terms to Corn-wal-lis, and 
gave him two hours in which to make 
up his mind. The men sent by 
Wash-ing-ton to talk with the men 
sent by the Brit-ish chief were Col- 
o-nel Lau-rens and Vis-count No-aille, of the French 
troops. 

At this time the fa-ther of Mr. Lau-rens — who 
brought these terms for the sur-ren-der of the King's 
chief and his King's men — was in the Tow-er of 
Lon-don, in a cell of which he had been cast by the 
Brit-ish when he was on his way to serve our land 
at the court of Hol-land. Now his son had the 




LORD CORN-WAL-LIS. 



j 24 Virginia. 



* 



right to make terms for a whole Brit-ish ar-my. 
And right sore these men felt to be made to lay 
down their arms. 

Lord Corn-wal-lis had them all dress in bright 
new suits first, and thus they laid down their swords 
to the brave men who, worn and torn, had won the 
great cause. The proud Brit-ish chiefs of staff, you 
can well guess, felt bad at such a mean end to their 
high hopes. 

One fine, brave man, Col-o-nel Ab-er-crom-bie, 
of the Eng-lish Guards, when his men laid down 
their arms, hid his face, and bit his sword with 
shame as he went in haste from the field. It must 
have been hard for them, who had held their heads 
so high and said the A-mer-i-can men did not know 
how to fight, "that they were no sol-diers," to have 
these same men win the day. 

Oh, what joy there was in Vir-gin-ia and the 
whole land. Gen-er-al Wash-ing-ton went to each 
one of his chief men to thank them for their good 
aid, and to Gen-er-al N el-son, of Vir-gin-ia, and his 
men, who stood so firm by him to the last. To all 
the men in the ranks he spoke of their brave deeds. 
He told them that when years and years should 
have gone by, tales would be told of their strong 
hearts and good arms, and how the young will hear 
of them, and read of them, as you now read these 



The Revolutionists. 135 

words, and your bright eyes glow with pride in their 
deeds. They did not fail to give thanks to Him on 
High. The Rev-er-end Mr. Ev-ens did his part, 
while all the men were drawn up in the field to hear 
him preach and give thanks. 

Plant-ers came from all parts of Vir-gin-ia to take 
part in the joy. The year now near at end had 
been a bad one for them. The King's men and 
that wild band ot Tarle-tons had laid hands on 
what they could of stock and stores. 

One of the plant-ers saw the bold Tarle-ton on a 
fine steed, by the side of some of the French men in 
the town, with whom he was to dine, smart as you 
please. 

"Ho there!" cried the plant-er, who knew the 
horse at once as his own; "will you just step down 
and give me back my horse?" 

Tarle-ton did not like to do it at all, and made a 
wry face. 

"You might as well give it up with a good 
grace," said the Brit-ish chief O'Ha-ra, who was 
with him. 

It was not a sweet pill for the wild Tarle-ton to 
take, but his free lance days were past and he knew 
it, so he eot off and rave the horse to him who laid 
claim to it by right, and sought for one in its place. 

Such a poor, lame beast as it was, the best he 



136 



Virginia. 



could get at the time. And such a meek horse-man 
did he look when he came back to his friends, that 
the French men had to laugh at the change in man 
and beast. 

The old Moore House, as you see it on this 
page, is the place where the men of the truce flag 




^^^^■^3C^^ r d^^-^>WPS^''' 



THE MOORE HOUSE, YORK-TOWN, WHERE CORN-WAL-LIS SIGNED AR-TI-CLES OF 
SUR-REN-DER TO THE A-MER-I-CAN AR-MY. 



met, that terms could be made by which the foe laid 
down their arms. 

On Oc-tober 19th, 1781, Lord Corn-wal-lis gave 
up the King's cause to our A-mer-i-cans. How 
would it have been had he known that Sir Hen-ry 
Clin-ton had that day set sail from New York with 



The Revolutionists. 137 

thir-ty-five ships of war and sev-en thou-sancl troops 
to help him. 

Would the strife have come to an end had Sir 
Clin-ton got there in time to give Lord Corn-wal-lis 
new hope ? Would the end have been just the same ? 

I think it was to be so. The plan was laid out 
just in that way by Him who rules homes and 
thrones, men, and kings. 

It was not till Sep-tem-ber 3d, 1783, that Great 

Brit-am rave sign and seal by which , . 

1 • « 

they had to give our land the name of 
In-de-pen-dent Col-o-nies oi A-mer- 



l-ca. 

I must tell you a tale of one of 
Vir-gin-ia's young men — of his rash 
act, to show the young of this day 
that in those days fear was not known. 
When a young man made up his 
mind to do a thing, he did it in spite 
of Brit-ish guns or King's guards, let the deed be 
born of love or war. 

The young man's name was Wil-liam Cun-ning- 
ham. He was one of the first young "min-ute men" 
to take up arms. When Vir-gin-ia built boats, he 
went to serve in what is known as the na-vy, on one 
of these boats. 

One time he ran foul of one of the foe's ships in 




138 



/ "irsriiiia 



a dense fog. The chief of the Eng-hsh ship was 
quick to roar : " Strike your flag, and yield your ship !" 




THE YOUNG MIN-UTE MAN. 



Cap-tain Cun-ning-ham by a neat trick made 
him think he would do so, and the foe quit their fire. 



The Revolutionists. \ ^q 



Just then the two ships got caught in some way, so 
that their sails kept them bound, and Cun-ning-ham 
could not sail off as he had made up his mind to do. 

He did not stop to think long, but with the knife 
in his belt cut the sail at one stroke and set his ship 
free. 

The foe then saw what he would do, and one of 
them shot at him and hit his arm. Still that did 
not bring him down, but with a skill and tact the foe 
did not look for, his ship shot from their side and 
was lost to sio~ht in the fo£. 

Once he went with some of our men to find 
stores on the south side of the James Riv-er. He 
had not long been wed to a dear girl, and of course 
did not wish to be caught by the foe then, of all 
times. But he had the bad luck to be caught all 
the same ; he and a lot more of our men, and they 
were put in a pen at Ports-mouth. 

They had been there some time when one day 
he said to his friends, " I shall see my wife this 
night, or be a dead man !" 

"Why, Will! are you mad?" they all said with . 
eyes in a wide stare. 

There were, some for-ty or fif-ty men on guard 
on all sides of the house where they were kept, so 
his friends did not see how he could get out with 
his life. He then told them how he meant to do it. 



140 Virginia. 

When the sun set, the guards of the day gave 
place to the night guards, and the chief men had 
two of the guards walk in front of the place, from 
the house to the gate on each side of the path. 
When the new guards came on, the old ones put 
clown their arms. This was the time to act. The 
new guards were not so fast to take up theirs, as 
they did not look for such a rash act on the part of 
those in the pen. 

Now was the time. How his friends felt for 
him ! He sprang out with a shout, " My wife or 
death !" gave the guard near him a blow that sent 
him to the dust, and like a deer ran safe out of sight 
and shot, ere yet the foe knew what had come to 
pass. Such a time as there was. Shots were sent 
on all sides and the hunt went on all night, but they 
could not find our brave Cap-tain Cun-ning-ham. 
He swam a stream near by Gas-port and found his 
way to the house where his wife was ere dawn of 
day. 

One of his men, Lieu-ten-ant Church, ran the 
risk with him, and must have been lost in the marsh 
or shot down. He was seen no more. 



The Americans. 141 



PART THIRD. 

The Americans. 



CHAPTER I. 

This land was now free. Each man was a king 
in his own right by the "grace of God" in a true 
sense of the word. They now had a great land of 
their own, these A-mer-i-cans, — and, as our well- 
known John Es-ten Cooke says, What were they to 
do with it ? 

The plans and laws made to suit the state of 
mind that grew out of the haste to show Eng-land 
that the men of the time would not he the tools of a 
king, had now to be made to fit a grand new face of 
things. So once more the wise men met, and out of a 
great clash of words came the plan by which our 
land got to be a Un-ion of States. 

Vir-£in-ia did more than all the rest of the States 
to bring this to pass. She had been the first to 
wrest a great tract of land from the crown, and now 
she was so large a State that the folks of some of 



J 4- I irginia. 

the rest of the States would not sign the plan of 
" Un-ion" ; they said it was not fair that one State 
should own such vast wealth of soil. 

Now Vir-gin-ia had a right to it, and could once 
more have held it by the sword, but she — that is, 
her brave, wise men, at the helm of State, by the 
wish of those who sent them to do their will — rave 
up lands that are now parts of the States of O-hi-o, 
In-di-an-a, and Il-li-nois, so that Vir-gin-ia, in fact, 
made this a gift to the Gov-ern-ment. 

Vir-gin-ia did not grow out of our form of rule. 
She was a State free by her own act, and so w r as 
heir in her own right to her soil by the bold act in 
the year 1776, when she shook off the heel of King's 
rule and took the name of Com-mon-wealth. 

Vir-gin-ia was the first to say there ought to be a 
new plan made by which one and all States could 
act in un-ion by a call to the head of Gov-ern-ment 
in case of need. 

The States met at Phil-a-del-phi-a in May, 1787, 
and Wash-ing-ton was put in the chair of what we 
call the Con-ven-tion. There a plan was drawn, 
known as the Con-sti-tu-tion, and all the men in the 
land were to read it and say what they thought of 
this new code of laws. 

A great war of words then took place in all the 
halls of States. Vir-gin-ia was in a flame ; hot words 



The Americans. 



143 



Cq 












1^'^ 



1 



N> 



5^ 









si*. 



^ 



144 Virginia. 

went from lip to lip. Friends got to be foes on this 
theme of new laws for our land. 

The Vir-gin-ia Con-ven-tion met at Rich-mond, 
which was now the place where State laws were 
made, and here we find such men of high fame as 
Mar-shall, Mad-i-son, Mon-roe, Ma-son, Nich-o-las, 
Pat-rick Hen-ry, Ran-dolph, Pen-die-ton, Lee (the 
''light horse" Henry, who could use his pen for Vir- 
gin-ia as well as his sword); Wash-ing-ton, Wythe, 
In-nes, Har-ri-son, Bland, Gray-son, and so long a 
list of grand names that it would seem as if the 
pride of Vir-gin-ia must grow warm at thoughts of 
the brains that led the world in those days. We 
might match them in our time, but the years have 
not brought us men with gifts of mind more great. 
Such a time as there was ! The best of friends now 
stood like foes, in the war of words as to how men 
should rule the land. 

You see, most of the men did not like the new 
plan, as it gave the chief of the land too much right 
to rule the States. Pat-rick Hen-ry, who did not 
like it at all, said that it was too much like a throne 
to give the Gov-ern-ment such right. He thought 
each State should keep its own rights. George 
Ma-son and James Mon-roe felt as he did. At last 
Vir-gin-ia made some change in the plan, which said 
that all rights the Gov-ern-ment had came from 






I he Americans. 



145 



States, and so the States could take those rights back 
if the Gov-ern-ment did that which men thought 
would harm their State. In this way there came at 
last peace out of the war of words. 

Wash-i n o-ton w a s 
then made the first 
Pres-i-dent or chief of 
the A-mer-i-can Re-pub- 
lic. That all the folks 
in the land thought 
well of the great Vir- 



gin-ian, and that his 

rule was wise, we know, 

for they made him chief" | 

once more, when he had 

been at the head of our 

land four years. At 

the end of the next four 

years, which is what is 

known as the term of 

that of-fice, they would 

have made him chief 

for the third time. But 

Wash-i ng-ton thought 

two terms was all that one man should serve in such 

a post in a free land, where there were men quite as 

fit as he to serve in so high a place. 




^^^^^^^^ 



y *^> 



I46 Virginia. 

You must read the life of this grand man. 
There are few like him in heart and mind. He 
was so good and kind to those who had to serve 
him, as well as those who were poor and not in his 
rank of life. 

But it is told of him that he left Bish-op — the 
man I told you was left to him by Gen-er-al Brad- 
dock when he lay on his death-bed — out in the street 
for hours while he had his first long chat with the 
one who was to be his wife. 

It came to pass in this way. Wash-ing-ton was 
fresh from the field of war with the Red men. He 
was known and well thought of by all for his fine 
mind and brave heart as far back as the year 1758. 

One day in that year he was on his way to Wil- 
liams-burg". The boat he was on to cross a branch 
of the York stream had to land at New Kent, where 
he met one of the fine, well-bred gen-tle-men of that 
Vir-gin-ia age, whose home was at all times free to 
the guest who had to pass that way. Cham-ber-lyn 
was the man's name. When he saw Wash-ing-ton 
he would not let him pass on, he must come and 
dine. ''What! Wash-ing-ton, dear to all Vir-gin- 
ians, pass by his door?" He would not hear of it, 
though told that Wash-ing-ton could not spare the 
time, as he had to see his chief at such an hour the 
next day at Wil-liams-burg. 



The America us. 



147 



"Well," said his would-be host; "you must come 
in; I have a friend, a fair, bright wid-ow, whom I 
want so much you should meet. You can just stop 
and dine, then ride the hour you spend with us in 
the night-time to make up for it. 

With this hope in view, then, Wash-ing-ton said 
to Bish-op : " Stand here and hold my horse" — the 
same Brad-dock had left him — " I will come back 
soon." 

Bish-op put his hand to his cap ; this meant 
"Your will is law," and Wash-ing-ton and his host 
went to the house. 

There were lots of guests, for an old time Vir- 
ginia home was a hall of love and joy ; but Wash- 
ing-ton now met the sweet la-dy who was to be his 
bride, and Bish-op, horse, and time were swept from 
his mind. 

The sun stood high noon, and still Bish-op held 
the horse. The sun sunk to rest, and Bish-op and 
the horse had seen no signs of their chief. 

"Strange, strange," thought the poor man, who 
must have been in need of food and drink, "this is 
not like Wash-ing-ton at all — he was wont to be true 
to his word." 

At last Mr. Cham-ber-lyn, who had his own 
qui-et laugh to see Wash-ing-ton wrapt up in his fair 
friend, bade him stay his guest for the night ; and 



148 



irpuua. 



poor Bish-op and the horse found the best of care 
till the dawn of the next day, when all set out for 
Wil-liams-burg. Wash-ing-ton soon came back to 







j** 



MOUNT VER-NON IN 1840. 



court and win his bride, who was at that time Mrs. 
Cus-tis. 

They had a life of true love for for-ty years, in 
which Wash -ine- ton rose to such great fame that 



The Americans. 



149 



when we read the words said by John Mar-shall in 
the halls of Con-gress in 1799, "Our Wash-ing-ton 
is no more," one seems to feel a sense of grief as if a 
rare dear friend had just gone from life. 

I should have been so glad could I have had a 
sketch made of the Old Cap-i-tol at Wil-liams-burg, 
the first stone house built by the men of Vir-gin-ia 
for a hall in which to make their laws. Neath its 
roof stood the best men of that age, who met here to 
frame plans that should fit the life of a New World; 
for from the hearts of the sons of Vir-gin-ia came the 
first sparks of the flame that made an end to King's 
rule. Each stone of this house should have been 
kept as dear as if it held some of the sounds that 
came from the tongue of our first great men. In the 
Old Cap-i-tol Wash-ing-ton's praise was heard for 
the first time. 

When the French and In-dian war was past, in 
which young Wash-ing-ton had gained such fame, 
it was here that the head man in the chair said such 
warm words of praise to him in. the name of all 
Vir-gin-ia, that Wash-ing-ton, when he rose to speak 
some words of thanks, could not move his lips. 
The hot blood came to his face, his form shook as it 
with shame that he was made to face all these folks. 
He could brave a foe and know not fear, but this 
crowd who had their eyes on him in pride and love, 



150 Virginia. 

made him feel so shy that not one word could he 
say. 

All saw how he felt, and the chief man, with a 
smile, spoke up quick: " Mr. Wash-ing-ton," said he, 
"you are as free from base pride as you are brave, 
and I have not the gift of words to say how brave 
you are !" 

It was in this same house that Pat-rick Hen-ry, 
clad in the most plain of dress, made that first speech 
of his, that woke up those in the room to the fact 
that in this young man, so mean of garb, so plain of 
face, there was a soul of fire that would draw the 
eyes of the whole world to Vir-gin-ia's new-found son. 

Hen-ry was laid to rest in June of the same year 
that the land had to mourn the death of Wash-ing- 
ton — who was born in 1732, and Pat-rick Hen-ry in 



The Americans. 



I5 1 



CHAPTER II. 



While John Ad-ams, the sec-ond chief of the 
land, was Pres-i-dent, Vir-gin-ia was in a state 
of wrath at what was 
thought to be his love 
for a style of rule not 
laid down by those 
who had made the plan 
of the Re-pub-lic. 
Free speech was put 
down, and men did not 
dare to say what they 
thought of the chief or 
of the Gov-ern-ment. 

At this rate our land 
would soon have been 
worse than a king's 
land, where men were 
put to death if they said 
aught not good of the 

The laws of our land make all men free to think 
and act— if they do not act wrong— and men have a 




152 



Virginia. 



right to say if they like or do not like the acts of the 
man they, by their votes, have set up in the high 
place of chief, to do their will. 

So when this chief and his men made a law to 
send out of our land all such folk as did not keep a 
still tongue as to what was done by the Gov-ern- 
ment, Vir-gin-ia was in a fine rage. Thom-as Jef- 
fer-son, who wrote the plan of the Dec-la-ra-tion of 




OLD RU-IN AT WARE CREEK. HTD-INO-PLACE OF THE PI-RATE BLACK-BEARD AND 

HIS BAND IN 1787. 

In-de-pen-dence was up in arms at once to let the 
Gov-ern-ment know that the States had their say as 
to what could be done, and that it must bide by the 
laws of the land, made by the voice of all its men. 
In the mean-time the State got her guns and arms 
out and would have fought for her rights. 

Just think of it! the " Fed-er-al-ists," the name 



TJie Americans. 



15. 



the friends of Pres-i-clent Ad-ams were known by, 

had a man by the name of Cal-len-der, a free white 

man, tried, and made to pay a fine of $200, and put 

in a cell for nine months. Ie did not like the 

Pres-i-dent, and wrote a 

small book in which he 

said some bad — if they 

were true — t h 1 n g s of 

him. This made the 

king-like soul of the 

chief and his friends so 

mad that they would at 

once put a stop to all 

such work, to see if a 

plain man would dare 

to have a mind of his 

own, and speak it, too ! 

Well, the strong 
and true side of the 
A-mer-i-can heart spoke 
out on this kind of a 
Gov-ern-ment, and Mr. 
Ad-ams did not get but 
one term as chief, but Thom-as Jef-fer-son was made 
Pres-i-dent. 

So well did he rule as chief, and so plain and 
good was his life as man, and there was so much 




154 



Virginia. 




done for the 
growth of our 
land while he 
was at the 
head of it, that 
he was made 
chief for four 
years more. 

When men 
in our time 
speak of a real 
true, fair man 
to put at the 
head of our 
land they say 
he is a "Jef- 
fer-son-ian 
Dem-o-crat." 

Mr. Jef-fer- 
son wrote a 
oreat deal, and 
was well read. 
He was known 
as the " Fa- 
t h e r of the 
U-ni-ver-si-ty 
of Vir-gin-ia." 



The Americans. 



'55 



He died at the age of eigh-ty-six, Ju-ly 4, 1826. 
His last words were: "I re-sign my-self to God, 
and my child to my coun-try. 

The next chief the land chose was a Vir-gin-ian, 
too, James Mad-i-son. While he was at the head 
of our land, we had to 
rive Ene-land a dose 
of hot shot to prove to 
her that we might be 
young in years as a 
Un-ion, but we knew 
to a man that what was 
ours was not hers — that 
she must keep her 
hands off our ships. 
There was war for three 
years, but Mad-i-son 
was so wise a chief for 
the time that he was 
kept at the helm two 
terms, and in all his 
life not one foe could 
be found to say there 
was a stain on his name 

in June, 1836, at the age of eigh-ty-sev-en years, 
When Jef-fer-son died, Mad-i-son took his place at 
the head of the U-m-ver-si-ty of Vir-gin-ia. 




He died 'at Mont-pe-lier 



*5 6 



Virginia. 




MONT-PE-LIER, THE HOME OF PRES-I-DENT MAD-I-SON. 

The nice, cool place you see on this page is Oak 
Hill, the home of the fifth chief of our land — James 




OAK HILL, THE HOME OF PRES-I-DENT MON-ROE. 

Mon-roe. This Vir-gin-ian, like the rest, was so 
well thought of that he was Pres-i-dent eight years, 



The Americans. 



157 



or two terms. In war, in the Sen-ate, in the ehair 
of State, he had clone his good part. He was horn 
in A-pril, 1758, and died, like Ad-ams and Jef-fer- 
son, on In-de-pen-dence Day, in the year 183 1. 

The next Vir-gin-ia-born chief of our land- -if we 
can put faith in the tale 
I told you of the birth 
of An-drew Jack-son at 
the Strode farm — and 
why not ? We have 
no more proof that he 
was born else-where. 
Tis said there is yet a 
spring on that land the 
Strodes gave the name 
of Jack-son Spring to, 
for the sake of the babe 
they were so fond of. 
In that case the next 
chief from Vir-^in-ia 
was the sev-enth of the 
land, known as "Old ^Zi^-t^^^? 
Hick-o-ry." 

Then in the year 1841 the land once more took 
a chief from Vir-gin-ia — Wil-liam Hen-ry Har-ri-son. 
He was the ninth chief of our land. He did not 
live but one month from the time he took the helm. 




158 



Virginia. 



He was dear to the hearts of men, and had made 
name and fame as a states-man and in the war with 
the Red men. 

John Ty-ler, of Vir-gin-ia, was then the chief. 
In 1849 a chief by the name of Zach-a-ry Tay- 
lor, of Vir-gin-ia, who had made a °reat name in the 
war in Mex-i-co, was put in the chair of chief of the 
land. This was the twelfth Pres-i-dent, and eighth 

from Vir-gin-ia. 
^ His-to-ry gives the 

State sev-en so far. 
It has not b e e n 
known till now what 
State gave birth to 
the great Gen-er-al 
Jack-son. Some say 
'tis North Car-o- 

BIRTH-PLACE OF PRES-I-DENT HAR-RI-SON, ON THE 1 1 ~ II 3, , SO 111 C S ay 

james Riv-ER, 1773. South Car-o-li-na. 

We shall do like the Strode child, and lay claim to 
him till some one who can prove more rights gives us 
a box on the ear and takes him from Vir-gin-ia. 

Gen-er-al Win-field Scott was a Vir-gin-ian, 
and so was Gen-er-al Hous-ton, once Pres-i-dent 
of Tex-as. Al-len G. Thur-man of " Red Ban-dan- 
na'' fame is a Vir-gin-ian by birth. And the Re- 
pub-li-can man up for Pres-i-dent is the grand-son of 
the Har-ri-son born in the house you see here. 




1 he Americans. 



159 



CHAPTER III 



All these years did not pass by in peace for 
those at home ; there were wars with the Red men 
of Vir-gin-ia, whose 
hate for the whites 
m a d e the m do such 
vile, bad things that it 
was not safe for large 
or small folks to to far 
from the house, whose 
arms had to be kept in 
a state for use all the 
time. 

The Red men had 
now got so cute that 
they were up to all 
kinds of tricks to get 
scalps or catch whites, 
so that they could burn 
them, or do them such 
harm that the cries of 
the poor souls rang out, to the great glee of the fierce 
Red men. 




J(IH9V <Kf&f t — 



i6o 



Virginia. 



When boys or girls were out in the woods and 
heard signs of the foe they ran like deers for home ; 
they had no wish to be made toast of to make fun 
for them, I can tell you. 

In the year 1793 
the In-dians were as 
bad as they could be. 
They stole stock, burnt 
whole towns, and kept 
young and old in great 
fear. One day in the 
fall of that year two 
boys by the name of 
John-son were sent out 
to find the c o w s . 
When they got out in 
the woods they found 
some nuts, and sat down 
on a log to have a feast. 
They kept their bright 
eyes on the watch all 
the same, though, for a 
Red man who might 
sneak on them. At last they saw two men come 
down the road. They had on clothes like white 
men, and the boys thought they were some of their 
own kin come in search of the farm stock, and so 




^C^^T^r' 



The Americans. 



161 



went on with their feast of nuts till a harsh " Ugh !" 
made them look and see two In-dians. 

Oh, how the nuts were cast down, and how 
those two lads took to their heels. But the Red 
men's legs were long and their stride swift, and soon 
the boys were in the clutch of the In-dians. 




TAY-LOR AT BUE-NA VIS-TA. 



"You run some • more, me kill you!" the Red 
men said. 

Well, they thought there was hope in those 
words, as that meant they would not take their 
heads off just then. So they kept still and made 
the Red men think it was just fun to go with them ; 



I 62 



/ irginia. 



that they had both had the wish for a lone time to 
lead the life of a Red man. 

Hen-ry, who was not so old as John, thought in 
truth it would be nice to be the pet of a sav-age. 
He told one of them that his pa made him work all 
the time, that he got no chance to play, and now he 



' ,". ■ i -. , ki 




JACK-SON AT NEW OR-LE-ANS. 



was just in the mood to go and be a big chief, and 
hunt scalps and smoke all the time. 

The sly Red man said " Ugh ! ugh !" and 
thought, we will make sport for you, my lad, in a 
way you won't like ! 

John, who was thir-teen years old, had more 



1 64 Virginia. 

sense, and set his mind to work on a plan to get 
clear. 

When night came they made a halt. A fire 
was made to cook some food, and when it got late 
the men each took a boy on one side of him and laid 
their guns at hand and went to sleep. 

But John had no thought of sleep. When all 
was still, and the breath of the Red men got to be 
deep like a Red man's snore, he got his mouth close 
to the ear of Hen-ry, and told him they must try to 
run home. Hen-ry would have flown with all speed, 
but John said to him: "We must first kill our foe r 
or they will catch us and roast us at once!" 

Soft as mice the gun of an In-dian was put with 
its mouth to his head ; John put his broth-er's hand 
then on the place where, with one quick move, the 
gun would go off. 

" Let it go as you see me strike this one on the 
head," said he, then he took the tom-a-hawk of the 
Red he meant to kill. Just as the blow fell, Henry 
did as he had been told, and, ah, what wild yells 
rang through the woods ! 

The Red men were not quite dead, but each 
had been so hurt that they could not run. John 
had struck twice, and his man soon gave up the 
ghost, but the one who had been shot kept up his 
veils as lone as the boys could hear them. 



The Americans. 165 



They ran all night, and at dawn came near the 
fort where their home was. Here folks were in 
great grief and fear. Their moth-er wept and wrung 
her hands 

"Oh, my poor boys! My dear, dear boys, they 
are lost, or may be dead by this time." 

" No moth-er, we are here yet !" said John, and 
the two boys were soon in her arms. 

When they had told what they had done, some 
of the men said it was not true, no two boys could 
be so smart. But they went to the woods, and saw 
the one Red man dead. The one who had been 
shot, had crept back of a tree that lay hear by, and 
with his jaw half shot off and in great pain, he stood 
at bay, and sent one load from his gun at the men. 
Brave white men would not make war on a half 
dead sav-age, so they left him to hide in some shrub 
to die. 

When the Red men at last came to terms of 
peace with Gen-er-al Wayne, some of them who had 
heard of the boys' deed of pluck, had a wish to 
know where they were. They were told the lads 
were still with their pa and ma. 

"That is not right," said the Red chief. "You 
should have made kings of them !" 

In the year 1800 there was a bad time with the 
black race of men in Vir-gin-ia. A fiend by the 



1 66 Virginia. 

name of Ga-bri-el was a slave on a farm near Rich- 
mond. He thought it would be a fine thine to kill 
all the white folk, burn the town, and take the land 
for his race. He and a big lot of slaves took such 
sharp things as they could find to shed blood with, 
and went on their way to Rich-mond. 

A hard storm came up, the stream rose so high 
they could not ford it, so a great wild fear came on 
them. They ran to the swamps and woods to hide. 
Ga-bri-el and some of the slaves were caught and 
hung. 

In 1 83 1 a slave by the name of Nat Tur-ner 
thought the time had come to make an end of the 
white race, and he was the one God had made to do 
the work. He had no cause to be bad. His mas-ter 
had not done him harm, for he said he had a good, 
kind friend in him, when he was caught and bade to 
tell why he had such hate for the whites. 

He was not so much to blame for his deed as 
his pa-rents, I think The blacks have a queer faith 
in signs, and Nat had some marks on his black skin 
that made the black folks say he was born to be 
not like the rest. When he was small he told his 
moth-er of things that took place ere he was born. 
She, poor thing, at once gave it out her child had a 
gift of sight, that he could look through the veil of 
the past and the time to come. She did not think 



The Americans. 167 

that he might have heard her speak of those tilings, 
and so know of them. Could he have seen what 
was to come he would have been a wise man, and so 
kept his neck free from the rope that made an end 
to him. 

But all the slaves took up his moth-er's talk, and 
as Nat grew up he saw that he was a big man with 
them, and he must say and do odd things to keep 
up his fame. So he would dream and think of 
strange things to give his friends a scare. One of 
these was that our Lord had made a sign to him 
from the sky, and told him that a snake was let 
loose, (this meant sin) and that our Lord had now 
laid down the yoke He had borne for the sins ol 
men, and that he, Nat Tur-ner, must take it up, and* 
fight with it the great snake ; that he must slay his* 
foes when a sign should be in the sky. Now Nat 
did not know just what to (To to prove that the marks 
on him were signs that he would be great. So he 
thought and thought till he saw a " sign." It was 
an e-clipse of the sun. " That is the sign meant for 
me," said he to the slaves. 

They fell on their knees in a great fright when it 
got dark, and now thought Nat was in truth sent bv 
our Lord to lead them — to what — they did not 
know. They were to slay the snake, and shed blood. 

Nat and some of the black men went to the 



1 68 



Virginia. 



woods with a fine fat pig and bran-dy, and such 
things as would make good fare for those who were 
to come and hear Nat's plan. The end of it was, 
Nat went to his mas-ter's house with an axe, and put 
to death Air. Tre-vis, his wife, and three chil-dren, 
with the aid of the slaves with him. The rage for 
blood was let loose. 




CAMP MEET-ING GROUNDS IX THE FOR-ESTS. 

They went from house to house to kill in cold 
blood the whites. The slaves on the place then 
went with Nat's crew with guns, swords, and clubs 
till some fif-ty-five whites were slain. At last at one 
house they got a close of shot. The black men, at 
this, most all ran from their chief in a fright. 



The Americans. 169 

By this time the whites were up in arms, and 
Nat took to the woods, where he dug a hole in the 
ground put a pile of fence rails on the top, and 
there he hid for six weeks. He would steal out at 
night for food, but not one of his black friends came 
to do him a kind turn. 

A dog, that was with two slaves who came to the 
woods to hunt, got scent of Nat, and in this way the 
whites £ot on his track. He was caught and huner. 
So it came to pass that those "strange" marks on 
him were "signs" that he would rise quite high in 
the world. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The cute place so like a toy house you see on 
the next page is where Hen-ry Clay was born. I 
must tell you of a scene that took place in which he 
was one of the chief men. 

In the time that Mr. Mad-i-son was chief of our 
land, Mr. Ran-clolph, of Ro-a-noke, said some hard 
words to Mr. Clay on themes of the war with Great 
Brit-ain that was a sore point just then, as I have 
told you. In those days, when men said things to 
wound those to whom they spoke, they could not 



i;o 



Virginia. 



pass it by, but the deed had to be made the cause of 
a du-el ; both men would fire, each to kill his man. 
We do not act that way in these times, I am glad to 
say. Well, Mr. Clay sent a friend to talk with a 
friend of Mr. Ran-dolph ; and these men set time 
and place for the two "mad" men to meet. 

Gen-er-al Ham-il-ton was Mr. Ran-dolph's 

friend, and the 
night ere the du-el 
was to take place 
Mr. Ran-dolph 
sent for the Gen- 
er-al, and told him 
he would not fire 
at Mr. Clay, but 
stand and be shot 
at for what he had 
said to grieve Mr. 
Clay. 

Gen-er-al Ham-il-ton did his best to change his 
mind, but Mr. Ran-dolph in a calm, sad mood said, 
and tears came to his eyes as he spoke: " I will not 
harm a hair of his head. No, I will not make his 
wife a wid-ow, his babes or-phans, to weep on his 
grave. When the sod of Vir-gin-ia rests on my 
breast there will be none to drop one tear on my 
grave." 




BIRTH-PLACE OF HEN-RY CLAY, HAN-O-VER COUN-TY, 
VIR-GIN-IA. 



The Americans. 



171 



The Gen-er-al at once sought Col-o-ncl Tatt-nal, 
a friend, and told him. The two came back, and 
Mr. Tatt-nal told Mr. Ran-dolph that they would 
not stand by just to see him shot down. 

At last Mr. Ran-dolph said to put a stop to their 
talk: "Well, if I see Old Nick in Clay's eye I'll 
fire — if I think he comes to take my life." 



RO-A-NOKE, THE HOME OF JOHN TJAX-DOLPH. 

When the time came he saw no " Old Nick" in 
Mr. Clay's eye, but a man calm to face what was to 
come. 

Mr. Ran-dolph said to the Gen-er-al: "Clay is 
calm, but not fierce; I shall not fire at him." 

One — two — three! Mr. Clay's ball did not hit 
Mr. Ran-dolph, who sent his shot high in the air. 



172 Virginia. 

When Mr. Clay saw this, like a true, brave man 
with a heart to feel, he ran to Mr. Ran-dolph with 
the cry: " I trust in God, my dear sir, you have not 
come to harm ! Now I see what you would have 
done, I would not harm you for worlds !" 

Gen-er-al Ham-il-ton tells the tale. He had not 
been friends with Mr. Clay for years ; but he now 
took his hand in a quick, warm clasp, and said : 
" My good sir, we have not been friends, but from 
this day I would wish to be friends for all time !" 

They all left the spot like men who had been 
made to see what was best in the hearts of each. 

One thing more I must speak of here in the 
" Old Vir-gin-ia" times as part of the his-to-ry of the 
State. It is the fire in which a host of well known 
folk, and Gen-er-al Smith, the Gov-er-nor of the 
State, lost their lives. There are some yet in life 
who lost near and dear kin in the flames that burnt 
the Rich-mond The-a-tre the night of De-cem-ber 
26, 181 1. The halls of state were hung in black for 
thir-ty days. It was the first great loss of life by 
such a fire in so sad a way this land had known till 
then. 



// T ar of the Slates. \ 73 

PART FOURTH. 

War of the States. 



CHAPTER I. 



Years went by and the " Un-ion" of States went 
on— not in peace, so to speak, for there were men 
in the North who thought the black race were just 
as good as the white race ; that it was time to put a 
stop to the slave trade, and that the Un-ion should 
let in no more slave States. 

So long as this kind of talk went on in Con- 
gress — where those men sent from each State met 
and had the right to give their views, and in this 
way have a voice in the plans for the whole good — 
things were not so bad ; but when men got so that 
all the sense they had ran to love for the blacks of 
whom they did not know a great deal, and let their 
souls boil with rage and hate for the white man in 
the South, the time was come for a grand row, if I 
may use so ill a word in such a sad case. 

Some men with fine brains and good place in the 
North got so wild on this " slave" talk that their 
tongues sent out such hot words as these : "I will 



1 74 Virginia. 

be glad to see the slave burn the mas-ter's house, 
wrong his child, and shoot those who own slaves, down 
to the last one." 

Some of the men in the North said it was right 
to teach the blacks to harm as they saw fit all those 
who had slaves. There was no law for crimes done 
by men if it was done for the sake of a black man, 
or for the black race. 

The flame of hate for the whites in the South 
grew as strong as the love for the blacks spread ; and 
the whole North was in a strange glee when a man 
by the name of John Brown with a lot of mad men 
went to Har-per's Fer-ry in Vir-gin-ia to stir up the 
slaves to bad blood, and drive them on to kill the 
whites — men, their wives, and wee ones, in fact with 
spikes, knife, and shot to clean out the "mas-ters and 
their brood." The arms were bought by men in the 
North who had got so blind, to what was just on this 
one thing, that it makes one at this time still feel 
they must have been mad to wish to free in this way 
with blood and crime, a race so ill fit to know right 
from wrong as the blacks were then. Would it 
not have been right had Vir-gin-ia then gone out of 
a Un-ion where such crimes were done to her? 

John Brown was hung. The base plot was 
found out in time as good luck would have it. Then 
the North sang songs of grief; to toll bells for 



War of the Slates. 175 

that great and good John Brown ; to weep for his 
bad end was the style. Had he slain all the whites 
in Vir-gin-ia and gone back North at the head of a 
black mob in stains of £ore, would tears have been 
shed for the slain of their own race ? 

When I read these things as they have been told 
by true men, it seems to me those who set John 
Brown on, and thought what he would have done 
right, must have been quite out of their sane minds, 




A-SY-LUM FOR THE IN-SANE AT STAUN-TON, VIR-GIN-IA. 

and they "knew not what they did," so that a way 
might be made clear to the great end for which all 
are now <dad — to be done with slaves. 

o 

The Har-per's Fer-ry case took place in 1859; 
but the real war of the States did not come to pass 
till months had gone by, and Vir-gin-ia, as in the 
old days, did her best to keep at peace with the 



176 



I 'iroinia. 



Un-ion, and was one of the last to go out, when the 
South saw that the Gov-ern-ment would use force 
with the States to whip them in line, as if they were 
bad young ones who had to do just as the "head of 
the house" said. 

On the i ;th of A-pril, when war was in full blast 
in tjie far South, Vir-gin-ia at last went out of the 
" Un-ion," and took sides with the States that had 

" se-ced-ed." 

You must now 
bear in mind that I 
told you that Vir- 
gin-ia had held on 
to the right to "se- 
cede" in case there 
should be acts done 
at the seat of Gov- 
ern-ment at Wash- 
ing-ton that the 
peo-ple of Vir-gin-ia did not think just to them. 
New York and Rhode Is-land kept that right, too, 
when they came in-to the Un-ion as States. (See 
El-li-ott's De-bates, vol. i., page 327, E-di-tion 1836.) 
In spite of this States-rights move, the Presi- 
dent said that no State had such right, and most of 
the folks at the North were led to think with him 
that the States were held by the Gov-ern-ment, just 




SEAL OF VIR-GIN-IA. 



ij8 Virginia. 

as if it were the King and the States slaves who had 
to dance to the Kind's tune. 

So there was a rush of brave men to arms to 
keep the "Un-ion" whole, as they thought; for 
may-be not one out of one hun-dred knew, or had 
read, of the real State-rights laws, as some of the 
States kept it ere they would come in the Un-ion to 
sign the Fed-er-al Con-sti-tu-tion, which is the plan 
of our Gov-ern-ment. 

West Vir-gin-ia did not wish to be bound to act 
with the tide-wa-ter and val-ley part of Vir-gin-ia 
that went out, so it got to be a State by it-self. It 
was not with hate and rage that the Vir-gin-ians 
now took up arms to fight the old flag. They did 
so with sad, sad hearts. They could not see why 
things were brought to such a pass. It is said that 
Rob-ert E. Lee wept tears of blood when the time 
came for him to take sides for the flag of the Un-ion 
or flag of the State ; but that which was right to him 
and such as he in heart, would not let them take up 
arms but for their peo-ple and their State. 

Oh, what a crime is such a war ! Young men 
in the North fought, some at least, for what, they 
could not have told. Said an old man with but one 
leg, and face full of scars to me, some years since. 
"When the war broke out I was one of the first to 
4 rush to the front.' I was young, full of what I 



War of the States. 179 

may now call blind love for this land of my birth. 
The ' flag' I had been taught to look up to, as a 
piece of red, white, and blue goods from on high. 
All I knew then of the South was that it had made 
war on that sa-cred bit of stuff. The blood in me 
rose to a white heat. If the one who rave me birth 
had been shot at I could not have been much more 
mad. Go to war ! Yes ! I felt as if I must clean 
out the whole ' se-cesh' land, and plant our flag on 
the top of a high hill, and yell ' my coun-try's safe' ! 

" Die ? If I had ten souls in me all should have 
been laid at the foot of an A-mer-i-can flag pole. I 
left home with the tears of moth-er wet on my 
cheeks. A sweet girl wrote her name in the Book 
of books, and gave it to me at the rail-road de-pot. 
' Lay it on your heart to keep the foe's shot at bay,' 
said she. 

"Oh, it was a sore good-bye, but then I was but 
one of such a throng ! We were on our way to save 
the land and the old flag ! Our names and deeds 
would live, and if we lost life — why, it was in a 
grand cause. Two months from that time I lay on 
the blood-moist soil of Vir-gin-ia with a ball in my 
neck, part of one ear gone, and a lot of dead and 
half dead com-rades near me. I went to sleep with 
my hand on my breast where that Book was. 
When I woke I was not where I thought I would 



180 Virginia. 

be, up there — but in a tent where they patch up men 
like me in times of war. I got well and went back 
to my reg-i-ment to give the South a dose tor the 
drink of blood it got out of me ; and lost a leg in the 
next fight. I was sent home. My folks were well 
off, and would not ask the Gov-ern-ment for a cork 
leg or the bit of cash a wreck like me might have 
got at the time, once in three months. 

"Some of the warm love for the flag had been 
'let' by this time. Things were not just what they 
seemed when one takes his love of the flag to bed 
for a quilt ; and the 'dear old land' is a hard bed, 
and has no springs — but when things got bad with 
us, and times made way with our spare cash, I 
thought I'd get my just dues and ask for a pen-sion. 

"The war was a thing of the past by this time, 
and our Gov-ern-ment did not make such great pets 
of her crip-ples as it had made of her brave young 
sol-diers. I tell you facts ; ere I got through with 
my claim I had said some hard words of the flag, 
that was flung to the breeze o'er my stump of a limb 
and wreck of a frame. I blush with shame when 
pen-sion day comes, and I must face the cold stare 
of the 'king' of the pen-sion of-fice, who thrusts the 
price of my pa-tri-ot-ism at me as if I were a dog ! 

"Go way with your old flags! Let the red-hot 
youth of our land spend a day in a pen-sion of-fice 



War of the States. iSi 

and see how the ' sa-viours of the coun-try ' are re- 
spect-ed. That'll cure 'em ! 

But this is all talk ; were the lame man once 
more young, and in his brave heart felt a call to 
stand by the flag, he would rush to the front as in 
days gone by. It is born in us to be quick to see 
harm to the land we love — and the flag means our 
land, our home. 



CHAPTER II. 

The head of the new Gov-ern-ment of the se-ced- 
ecl States was at Rich-mond, and the first great 
strife of States took place at Ma-nas-sas, which is 
known as the bat-tie of Bull Run. There had been 
blood shed in Vir-gin-ia at Beth-el in June, 1861, 
when Gen-er-al Ma-gru-der and a small force got the 
best of the troops from Mass-a-chu-setts with Gen- 
er-al Pierce at their head. The men in the South 
were so true and brave, that in the heat of the strife 
they yet were so just to the men they fought that 
they paid sol-diers' due to the brave ones they had to 
face, foes though they were. 

The eyes of the whole North now were bent on 
Rich-mond, and a grand move was made to storm 



182 



Virginia. 



the " Con-fed-er-ate Cap-i-tal." They thought if 
they took that town the ''South" would at once sit 
down, and cry peace. 

So a great force with Gen-er-al Mc-Dow-ell at 




THOM-AS JON-A-THAN 

JACK-SON (" STONE-WALL 

JACK-SON"). 




JAMES LONG-STREET. 





ROB-ERT E. LEE. 



CONFEDERATE CHIEFS. 



J. E. B. STUART. 




JO-SEPH JOHN-STON. 



the head of the troops from the North went on the 
march to Vir-gin-ia to take Rich-mond. Their will 
was good and they were brave, but they had souls to 



War of the States. 183 

face and men to fight who were not made of less 
true stuff than the best of their own. They found 
this out when they got as far as Bull Run, where 
Gen-er-al Beau-re-gard and his troops met them, and 
— well, I will not at this late day dwell on the dose 
they got, for it was here they found out that the men 
of the South did not mean to let them walk right 
through them to Rich-mond, and then pass on and 
bathe in the Gulf Stream. 

So they had a grand ar-my join force by a 
"flank" move to get their men on all sides of the 
troops from the South, and gay crowds came from 
the towns of the North and from Wash-ine-ton to 
see that vast force of men whip the South on the 
field at Ma-nas-sas. 

At one time things were ri^ht close to an end 
when the strife was at its height ; and oh, how the 
brave on both sides were sent to the dust to rise no 
more ! 

It was here that Gen-er-al Jack-son, the good 
and the brave, got the name of "Stone-wall." 

Gen-er-al Bee, whose hand-ful of men were most 
all slain, rode to the side of Gen-er-al Jack-son, and 
with a face of woe said : "Gen-er-al, they will beat 
us back." 

"Sir," cool as ice, said Jack-son, "We will 
give them the bay-o-net." 



1 84 



Virginia. 



Gen-er-al Bee rode to his men, and with new 
strength of hope said : " See, there stands Jack-son 
like a stone-wall ! Let us not yield to the foe, but 
stand firm with him." 

Like a spell of new life the men took up the cry, 




JACK-SON AT BULL RUN. 



" Give them the bay-o-net, and stand like Stone-wall 
Jack-son !" 

They met the North, and inch by inch took the 
field from them, and when late in the day new aid 
came, led by Gen-eral J. E. John-ston, the strife 
came to an end with vic-to-ry for the South for that 
time at least. 

What a rout it was for those who came to look 



War of the States. 



185 



on! They did not stop to pick up the poor half 
slain who lay on the field, for Stu-art's horse-men 
were at their heels. From that day Gen-er-al Jack- 
son was known to the world as Stone-wall. 

Some tales are 
told of him that are 
just the kind boys 
and girls love to 
hear; and to such 
wee folks they must 
be quite new. 

A cap-tain in . ,| 
the a r -my f r o m 
"way down East" 
got caught in the 
strife near Rich- 
mond late in the 
war. While half 
in a doze Gen-er-al 
Lee and his staff 

rode by. The cap-tain woke up and said : 
is that ?" 

When told, he could not find all the good words 
in which to tell what he thought of so fine a man, 
"who sat his horse so grand," and, "though a foe, he 
must say Gen-er-al Lee had not his match in the 
field." 




,.^~ . ■■- y 



GEN-ER-AL ROB-ERT E. LEE. 



\Yh 



o 



1 86 Virginia. 

Soon Gen-er-al Jack-son and staff rode up, and 
he heard some one say the Gen-er-al's name. With 
a bound he was on his feet to gaze long and well at 
the "old man." 

"So that's old Stone-wall, is it?" 

"Yes." 

" Wa-al, I swan, he ain't much for looks !" 

Stone-wall Jack-son did not wish to have Vir- 
ginia se-cede from the Un-ion, but when the State 
went out, he went with it, and heart and soul stood 
by the State's right to do so. 

He would not hear folk talk of the hate they bore 
the North. "You and I have no right to hate ; it is 
a low trait of mind, and a sin. We must leave 
these things to God," he would say. 

He had a great love for God, and would stop to 
kneel and ask God's help for what he then had in 
view. If they lost the day he would give thanks 
that they were yet in life. 

The night of the day of the strife at Fred-er-icks- 
burg, Gen-er-al Lee had a talk with all his chiefs, so 
that each could say what should next be done to 
whip the foe. 

Jack-son went to sleep, and when they woke him 
for his views, he said in a half doze: " Drive 'em in 
the stream ! Drive 'em in the stream !" 

Though all his men thought no one on earth so 



War of the States. 187 

good and great as their chief, Jack-son was not 
proud of what he could win in fame by his brave 
skill; he gave all due to God, and next to Him 
thought most of Gen-er-al Lee. He once said : 
" Rob-ert E. Lee is a man in whose steps I would 
walk to the death, or where he saw fit to lead, with 
blind trust in his ways." 

We do not oft see or hear of a man who is so 
free to give such grand due to men of his own 
time. He went right on with such things as he had 
to do, and did not stop to look in the glass and say 
to his own face: " Ah, my man, I am proud of you ; 
there are no more like you !" or some such vain talk. 
While he did his own work he had his eyes on the 
deeds of those with him, and so he taught his tongue 
to praise what gave joy to his heart. 

There were troops in the South who had not 
seen Jack-son, but they had heard of him, I can tell 
you. So it came to pass once, that when on the 
march to join Gen-er-al Lee near Rich-mond, there 
had come with him the well-known Tex-as bri-gade 
of Gen-er-al Hood, whose men had not seen Jack- 
son yet, but knew of, and thought of, him as brave 
men think of a brave chief. 

The move of the army was to be kept as much as 
could be from the ears of spies, and the men were 



1 88 Virginia. 

told to keep still tongues if they met strange men 
who might quiz them. 

They had been one day on the march when Jack- 
son rode down the line to look at the troops, and 
saw two of Hood's men skip from the ranks, and 
make tracks for a cher-ry tree in a field on the way. 

With a stern face he rode up to them and said : 
" Where are you bound ?" 

" I don't know," cool as you please, said one of 
the men who did not know who this man, with no 
sign of rank on his clothes, was. 

" What is your name ?" 

" I don't know." 

" Who is your chief?" 

" I don't know." 

" What do you mean by your ' I don't know !" 
at last spoke up sharp the Gen-er-al. 

" Why, you see, Old Stone -wall gave out word 
that we were not to know a thing till the next fight, 
and we are bound to do as he says." 

The Gen-er-al had to smile, though he did not 
tell them that he was. " Old Stone-wall," but they 
found it out right soon. 

He thought not of his own harm when he fell at 
night with the wound that rave him his death. 
" Do not tell the troops I'm hurt," were his words. 

All through life he said, "It's all right, it's all 



War of the States. 189 

right," and so he said when his wife told him death 
was at hand. 

The brave Gen-er-al Stu-art took charge of the 
dead chief's dear troops, and led them to the strife 
with the cry: ''Charge, men, and think of Jack-son !" 



CHAPTER III. 

It was a sad, hard time for the dear ones left at 
home in Vir-gin-ia. But the wives and girls and 
boys of both sides had great brave hearts in them ; 
each bore up, for each thought they had right on 
their side ; but it was far more hard for those who 
had dear ones in the Con-fed-er-ate ar-my. They 
were at work night and day to help those in the 
strife and to keep the wolf of want from their doors. 
Oh, what had they not had to bear from " the boys 
of the North" on their way through the vale ! 

But that is the fate of war. It is told by one of 
the of-fi-cers on the " North side" of the strife, that 
while they were at York-town their guns were set 
just in front of a large, fine house with fruit trees on 
all sides. It was said to be the home of a Mrs. 
Far-ren-holt, whose son and hus-band were in the 
war on the Con-fed-er-ate side. 



iiiiiii IK 



^MSIiit s^ 







o 

o 



War of the States. 191 

One day a Fed-er-al of-fi-ccr went to her to buy 
a horse. (I did not know they " bought" things from 
folks on the south side at that time.) 

" I would like to buy a horse from you," he said, 
so the tale goes. 

" I can't spare one. I need all I have to work 
the place and plough the fields." 

"Oh," said he, with a grin; "your folks will 
plough that for you with shot and shell soon." 

"Will they plant, too?" 

"Well, they won't get a chance to plant an-y of 
us if we can help it !" said the man, with a laugh. 

"Oh me, if they do plant a lot of you, I hope for 
the land's sake you won't sprout. We've more 
Yan-kee sprouts 'round here now than is good for 
Vir-o-in-ia soil !" 

The man left her with a queer smile on his face, 
but he did not take her horse. 

It is told of a brave young girl near Charles-ton, 
Ka-naw-ha, Vir-gin-ia, that when the fight at Sker-ry 
was past the troops from the North went from house 
to house to seek foes and flags. Two or three men 
with straps of rank on their coats came to her home. 
"What do you want?" said Miss Fry, for that, I 
am told, was her name. 

"We want your 'se-cesh' flags; we know there 
are some hid here in this house." 



192 Virginia. 

" Brave men take flags on the field of strife, from 
the hands of men who fight!" said Miss Fry, with 
scorn. " Cow-ards hunt them in the homes of lone 
wo-men ! Mine are in the hands of brave boys in 
the field of war. Go there and take them !" 

Out of the vast sad tales one could tell of those 
days, none are more sweet than those that tell of 
kind acts on the fields of strife, when spent balls and 
spent shells lay with the wrecks of lives they had 
made. 

See, the field is strewn with gray coats. The 
day, too, is spent ; the veil of night drapes woe, but 
the moan of pain falls on the heart more keen for 
the hush night brings in her train. Can you see 
that form steal close to the spot ? It halts, a low 
wail, a sigh, a moan from those on the ground. The 
dark form draws near. It bends o'er the gray coat 
moist with blood. What will he do to his slain 
foe ? There is life in him yet — will he end it, will he 
rob him ? We are told such things have been done. 

Oh no, no. These men are of one race, and 

they have one God. The blue coat puts his hand 

neath the head of the gray coat, he lifts it so that 

the lips, now gray and dry, touch the tin can with 

its cool drink. 

The fate of war made them foes in the morn. 
Now one is low, and the one who is safe, has 



War of the States. 



l 9: 



thought how it might have been with him; and like 
a friend and a true man he goes hence to give that 
"drop of cold wa-ter" to him who is faint. 

It is to men with such hearts that we must give 
thanks for the bridge of peace that is built o'er the 
dark days. Those who fought are the ones who 
were the first to wish for an end to strife. They are 




THE MON-I-TOR AND THE MKR-RI-M AC. 



the ones to shake hands at the base of the mon-u- 
ments which rise North and South to mark the spots 
where the gray and the blue fell, and where the 
blood of both wet the same soil. 

When we hear loud talk of the "wrongs" and 
hates, of times long past, nine times out of ten the 

war, is 



tongue to wag the old 



the tongue 



hung 



194 Virginia. 

the mouth of the man who stayed atjiome, that he 
might grow rich on the woes and needs of war-fare. 
I read in an old book of war tales, one that I want to 
tell you, though it does not by right fit the His-to-ry 
of Vir-gin-ia, but it will give my small girl and boy 
friend a peep at a mean soul. There are just such 
souls in the wake of true men's strife, who come 
when it is safe on the field, and rob the dead. 

The scene- took place on the cars of a train bound 
from the West to New York while North and South 
were still at war. A man in fine dress, with a loud 
voice and grand air, sat to the right of the car. He 
had much to say to a friend some seats from him 
on the left hand side, so all the folks in the coach 
heard what he said. The talk, of course w r as on the 
war, and a fight of which the day's news-pa-pers 
were full. The blue-coats had won, and the North 
thought the war would now soon end, as the gray 
coats had no more of clothes or stores or au^ht else 
to keep their brave hearts up with. 

"Well," said this man, "I hope the war will last 
at least six months more !" 

"Why?" said his friend with a stare, like all the 
rest who heard him. 

"Well, if it lasts six months more I'll be rich ; at 
least I'll have made so much cash that I w r on't need 
to have a care for the rest of my life. I've made 



War of tlic States. 195 

out of the war, the last six months, at least a cool 
$100,000." 

Just then some one laid a hand on his arm. It 
was a pale face that met his glance. A la-dy in deep 
black sat in the seat just back of him. 

"Sir," said she, "I had, not long since, two sons. 
One fell in the strife at Fred-er-icks-burg — one at 
Mur-frees-bo-ro." 

Her voice broke with a sob; all in the car held 
their breath. The la-dy kept down the tears, and 
her eyes grew hard, and her breath came fast ; then 
she sprang up with a sense of quick rage, and gave 
the man a slap first on the right then on the left 
cheek ; and ere he knew what had come to him, the 
men in the car took hold of him, and thrust him out 
of the door as one" not fit to breathe the air with 
them. 

Such men in the North had a chance to m-ow 
rich. What did they care for flag or State so that 
their purse grew round and full ! But the South 
gave all, and lost all, all, for a cause to them so just. 

The tide of blood swept o'er the land till step by 
step their cause was lost. 

Then came the day when Pres-i-dent Da-vis had 
to fly for his life. The Stars and Bars were torn 
from the flag-staff of the Cap-i-tol at Rich-mond, and 
a flag of the Un-ion brought from New Or-leans by 



196 Virginia. 

Lieu-ten-ant cle Peys-ter was run up while flames 
made a wreck of the town, and the sparks rose in a 
wreath of red glow o'er Cap-i-tol Hill, as if in glee 
that the fair vale of Vir-gin-ia lay waste. 

At Ap-po-mat-tox a band of men, sore of foot, 
gaunt in form, laid down their swords. In the words 
of a true man who does not gloat o'er those who 
had lost, who is one of the band of the Grand Ar-mv 
of the Re-pub-lic : "It was a fierce foe, a proud 
foe, a brave foe," with scarce strength left in their 
frames to grind their heels in the dust, from grief 
that they had to live to see such an end. The earth 
was wet with the tears they were too weak from 
want of food to keep back. When one reads of that 
day, one is made to think of the South as a lame and 
torn ea-gle in throes of pain and woe, of whom e'en 
the foe must say: " Such pluck is grand." 

But the ea-gle did not die ! From all parts of 
the South, and here Vir-gin-ia once more takes the 
lead — we hear the voice of the young ea-gle give 
vent to the joy of a new dawn. And they mean to 
be seen and heard, too, these young ea-glets of the 
new born old Vir-gin-ia. Four hun-dred of them 
sent a call to the White House at Wash-ing-ton, May 
last (1888), to bid Mrs. Cleve-land "bring the Pres- 
ident" to their school, so that the chief of our land 
might see them soar, and hear them sing. 



War of the States. 197 



CHAPTER IV. 

The State had no chief when the war was 
at an end. F. H. Pier-pont, who had been 
chief of West Vir-gin-ia, was sent 1))' the Gov-ern- 
ment at Wash-ing-ton to be chief. Then new 
laws were made, by which the men of the State 
could come to some terms of good will with the 
" Un-ion." 

In 1869 they made Gil-bert C. Walk-er chief of 
Vir-gin-ia, and then the State took her place as of 
old in the Un-ion. 

At Win-ches-ter stands now a " Con-led-er-ate" 

mon-u-ment of which Vir-gin-ia is as proud as New 

Eng-lancl is of " Bun-ker Hill." It was put there 

that all might know in the time to come, as they 

thought in the past, and is now the sign, that those 

who fell went to their death in a cause they 

thought just, by the right Vir-gin-ia kept, as you will 

see when you read what, in the words of those who 

had the right to frame such laws in the days ol old, 

11 
these laws said. It reads thus : 



198 



/ r irginia. 



Res-er-va-tion of Vir-gin-ia to leave the Un-ion for 

catise such as she might think proft-er before 

rat-ify-ing the Fed-er-al Const i-tu-tion. 

"We, the del-e-gates of the peo-ple of Vir-gin-ia, 

du-ly e-lect-ed in pur-su-ance of the rec-om-men-da- 

tion of the Gen-er-al As-sem-bly, and now met in 




AL-EX-AN-DER H. STE- 
PHENS. 






JU-DAH P. BEN-JA-MIN. 



JEF-FER-SON DA-VIS. 



CON-FED-ER-ATE CHIEFS. 




J. H. KEA-GAN. 



Con-ven-tion, hav-ing ful-ly and free-ly in-ves-ti-ga-ted 
and dis-cussed the pro-ceed-ings of the Fed-er-al 
Con-ven-tion, (the Con-ven-tion that framed the Fed- 
er-al Con-sti-tu-tion, and sub-mit-ted to the States for 
rat-i-fi-ca-tion,) and be-ing pre-pared, as well as the 



War of the States. 199 

most ma-ture de-lib-er-a-tion hath en-a-bled us, to de- 
cide there-on, do, in the name and be-half of the pro- 
pie of Vir-gin-ia, de-clare and make known that the 
pow-ers grant-ed un-der the Con-sti-tu-tion be-ing 
de-liv-ered from the peo-ple of the U-ni-ted States, 
(now act-ing as States,) may be resumed by them 
when-ev-cr the same shall be per-ver-ted to their in- 
ni-iy or oppression, and that ev-er-y pow-er not 
grant-ed, there-by re-mains with them, (the peo-ple of 
the States,) and at their will." 

I must now tell you the names of all the Gov- 
er-nors of Vir-mn-ia since our land got to be a Re- 
pub-lie. The first was Pat-rick Hen-ry. lhom-as 
Jef-fer-son, Thom-as Nel-son, Ben-ja-min Har-n-son, 
Ed-mond Ran-dolph, Bev-er-ly Ran-dolph, Hen-ry 
Lee, Rob-ert Brooke, James Wood, James Mon-roe, 
John Page, Wil-liam Ca-bell, John Tyder, Gen- 
er-al \Y. Smith (who lost his life in the flames when 
the Rich-mond The-a-tre was burnt), James Bar- 
bour, W. C. Nich-o-las, James P. Pres-ton, Thom-as 
M. Ran-dolph, James Pleas-ant, John Ty-ler (Pres- 
ident of the U-nit-ed States), \Y. B. Giles, John 
Floyd, Lit-tle-ton W. Taze-well, Win-dom Rob-ert- 
son, Da-vid Camp-bell, Thom-as W. Gil-mer, John 
Ruth-er-ford, John M. Greg-o-ry, James Mc-Dow- 
ell, \\ T il-liam Smith, John B. Floyd, Jo-seph Sha-ron, 
Hen-ry S. Wise, John Let-cher, Wil-liam Smith, 



200 



Virginia. 



Fran-cis H. Pier-pont, Hen-ry H. Wills, Gil-bert C. 
Walk-er, James L. Kemp-er, Fred-er-ick W. M. 
Hol-li-day, Wil-liam E. Clau-son. Fitz-hugh Lee 
is chief at this time. 

The boys and girls of Vir-gin-ia ought to take 

great pride in their 
State, and learn as 
much as they can 
of all that is part 
of it — the wealth 
yet deep in her 
soil, the growth of 
her crops, and 
works of those who 
give her fame. 

There is a grand 
field from which to 
glean all such facts 
at Rich-mond, and 
on the roll of the 
Vir-gin-ia His-tor- 
i-cal So-ci-e-ty and 
South-ern His-tor-i-cal So-ci-e-ty should be found the 
names of all the bright young ea-glets of our time, 
so that they can delve deep down in the past, that 
they may know well the race from which they sprung, 
and from such worth, wish to make their own lives 




War of the States. 201 

ring on to the end of time side by side with those 
who have made the State rank so high that you may 
well be proud to say : "I am a Vir-gin-ian !" 

Heigh ho! here we are on the last page, and my 




HOVE FOR DEAF. DUMP, AND P.UND. STAUN-TON, VIR-GIN-IA. 

bright young Vir-gin-ia "ea-glets" and I must part. 
This task, which has been more a source of joy than 
toil to me, is now come to the place where one must 
write 



THE END. 






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